Minimalists in the fashion world collaborate with Arc'teryx, an outerwear brand popular with hikers and enthusiasts.

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The cooperation in the fashion industry has reached its peak, which is a widely accepted fact.

Almost all combinations have been realized: independent brands cooperate with fast fashion companies; big-name designers cooperate to develop a series of affordable accessories; European luxury brands imitate other European luxury brands.

Now that everything has been done before, how can a new collaboration be felt necessary?

Ask Lucie and Luke Meier, the married creative directors of Jil Sander, who have maintained a fairly gentle pace of collaboration. They made raincoats for Mackintosh in 2019 and sandals for Birkenstocks this year. They will say that all of this is to provide the highest level of functionality and practicality.

That's why their next collaboration was widely released on November 10 (a pop-up store in New York two days ago). It was a men's, women's and unisex collection for Canadian outdoor technology brand Arc'teryx.

"There must be a real reason to do them," Mr. Meyer said of cooperation. "This is not just for hype. This is really something we like, and we feel complementary to Jil Sander's world."

Although Arc'teryx happens to be incredible hype, it really helps. The brand is the main product of gorpcore. This kind of sportswear as a streetwear is especially popular among urban residents and cool menswear lovers.

Therefore, although this collaboration is designed for skiing, snowboarding and outdoor sports, these items may eventually become popular in downtown Manhattan as they are in ski resorts. (Like the previous collaboration, this one belongs to Jil Sander, a sub-series of outerwear, "suitable for going to the mountains, the sea or the countryside, where you want work and function, but you don't want to give up your aesthetics," Meyer Mr. said.) The price is between US$1,500 and US$2,500.

Here, in an interview with the editors of their Milan studio, each of them wore white shades on a white Zoom background. The designers talked about their collaboration methods and how to grow up in a cold climate (he is in Vancouver, she is in Alps). ) Affected their cooperation with Arc'teryx.

In the past few years, we have seen so many fashion collaborations. When they come to you, how do you decide when to find them or say yes?

Luke Meyer, this is a good buzzword, right? "Cooperation." This is newsworthy-when people hear of cooperation, their ears will cheer up. We really just want to do meaningful things and create things that we can't do by ourselves. So it's not just about working with brands that have parallel marketing goals in some way.

We never want to have only two logos on a product. To be honest, it's not that interesting. So whether it is Mackintosh or Birkenstock or now Arc'teryx, they are all professional brands. They have very deep expertise in what they do.

How did this process start with Arc'teryx?

Luke we will process the shapes and make patterns, and then we will send them to their developers, and they will help us design these parts in the right way. Therefore, it was a product-driven conversation to a large extent in the beginning. Obviously we respect the aesthetics of Archaeopteryx, but we really want to pull it into Jil Sander's world and give it our aesthetic appeal.

In guiding us to understand some of the reasons why they make things in certain ways, they are really supportive. For example, even though it is as simple as some drawstrings on a jacket-they never have loops because it may hang on something. For subtle things like this, they have been working hard for years.

But the other side is the same. Someone in our studio has been working on Jil Sander's works for more than 20 years, and we talked to them about the shape of the shoulders or the way some works fit.

This series is specially designed for mountain sports. your hobby?

Lucie Meier I grew up in a ski resort in Zermatt, so there is no way to escape. Luke spent many winters in Whistler, British Columbia. This is something we have been doing since we were children and still love it very much. Once we can enter the snow-capped mountains and mountains, we will fight for it.

Luke, we have at least 20 days to ski every year. Milan’s location is very good-you can reach the Alps very easily and very quickly. We also try our best to go back to Vancouver once a year, even if it's just going to the local mountains, skiing at night or something.

So is technical winter clothing something you have always wanted to do?

Lucie. I mean, these works have been part of our lives for a long time. It's just that we want to have the right partner, so we waited until the time was right.

Luke, I think it's getting harder and harder to find really beautiful clothes that work well. This is a bit like another situation-you can get really useful things, they work very well, but sometimes you feel like an astronaut or something. You just want it to be a little more beautiful, a little more soulful, and not to feel so plastic and industrial.

Is there one that you prefer, or do you think it represents the series?

Luke, I like bodysuits.

Lucy, I also like bodysuits.

Let's talk about jumpsuits.

Luke, this is a 3 liter Gore-Tex full suit. It's a bit comforting, but it's sealed, just like there won't be any snow under the hem of your jacket. Things that are usually very nylon have a sense of comfort.

Lucie may be nostalgia for childhood. It's time to go back to the jumpsuit.

Of course, in the past year and a half, many people hope to get comfort from their clothes.

Luke But we always wanted this-even before all the "family nucleus", housewear, sitting at home so that you don't have to wear clothes. We always want comfort, even in a perfectly tailored suit. This is indeed part of our approach. This is not a sacrifice for appearance. You should also be able to--

Lucy-It feels good to wear.