As the Climate Cools, Will Gorpcore be the Hottest Trend in 2023? 

Tactical Influence in Gorpcore – Military for the uninitiated 

Gorpcore’s dad is an army officer. A seasoned corporal, he was promoted to the ranks of general and was honoured in his retirement for serving as an air force officer, naval soldier, sergeant, and captain. This is all metaphor of course. The point being that one half of Gorpcore comes from military and tactical influence. Tactical gear refers to specialised garments worn for strategic operations. Rather than your standard-issue pants and t-shirt, tactical gear is vests and cargo pants with multiple storage pockets, and accessories like sunglasses designed to cut glare from the brightest surfaces, like snow. Tactical gear is made for stealth and camouflage, but also protection.

Up until now, tactical gear has had a steady influence on Gorpcore, defining the desirable proportions that have long been loved in streetwear as well as the colours and prints that look the most edgy at fashion shows. 

We’ve embraced tactical fashion through a connection with pop culture. 

But with the current high-profile war in Ukraine, will the fashion-conscious still embrace tactical elements of Gorpcore? Or will we try to distance ourselves from reminders of armed conflict? 

The Warrior Myth

Military gear in civilian fashion appears to stem from the warrior myth proliferated through films and pop culture: That wars are survivable based on your readiness. Movies such as Saving Private Ryan have upheld the Hollywood ideal that wars are worth fighting, and those that perish do so honourably. However, the reality of war is that even those who are highly skilled die senselessly. Survival instead depends on sheer luck in the face of random carnage. 

Consumers wanting to partake in the myth might opt for tactical Gorpcore to achieve the desired look, signalling that there is something desirable about being perceived to be in the military. But within the meat grinder of the war machine, soldiers on both sides are killed precisely for the uniform they are wearing. 

So, do fashionable civilians have a death wish?

During the First World War, in the narcissistic quest for poetic justice, war-makers decided to wait an additional six hours after signing the peace armistice before announcing an end to the war. This resulted in the loss of another 3000 lives after the war had ended. These deaths, rendered even more pointless than those lost during the war, were sacrificed by the Generals in order to end the war at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – what we know as Remembrance Day. 

Traditions such as these have maintained our enchantment with the ritual power of sacrifice, and this belief about the nature of sacrifice and survival has allowed fashion to embrace military gear, for better or for worse. With war at the forefront of cultural consciousness, it is predicted that an uptick in tactical gear in fashion will be seen throughout 2023. 

It’s not just soldiers that mistake readiness for survivability, but civilians too.  

When I’m on the train trying to pull off the combat-chic look in the dead of summer in boots, utility jacket and cargo pants, and an actual soldier dressed in his Military Green uniform gets on the same carriage - both of us sweating for a cause - is my cause any more imagined than his? Faced with a compressed metal alloy headed for the same skin that can barely withstand sunlight, it’s not looking very good for either of us. 

Wartime has always signalled changes in fashion on home fronts. The rationing of fabric resulted in the rationing of clothes during the Second World War. Resources for civilians were limited and prices rose on everything from food to medicine. Manufacturers were quick to respond to the potentiality of bombings and gas warfare, producing clothes that were intended to increase the wearer’s chance of survival. A handbag from the 1940s featured an in-built oxygen respirator. Even the boiler suit which we wear for fashion today was first designed for use in air raid shelters. 

Historically, wartime has brought with it a subliminal desire for readiness. 

The War on Climate: The real war 

Climate Change and Sustainability

 
Meet Gorpcore’s mum: adventure wear. She’s famous for having climbed the highest mountains and rambled the roughest terrains. She’s braved perilous weather systems; icy peaks and frost-bitten moors, burning sun and unforgiving deserts. She’s a pioneer and she does it all in a selection of plastic-derived fabrications reworked to reject whatever conditions are threatening a good time. 

As the climate continues to be ravaged by human-led pollution, we continue to fight the real war. In this case, Gorpcore has actually been able to inherit and improve upon his mother’s legacy, swapping out the unrelenting use of plastic for recycled materials and natural fibres.  

But while war and the climate emergency continue to rage, the survivalist mood amongst consumers prevails. With extreme weather events now the norm, Gorpcore has not only the fashion conscious turning to it for solutions, but those of us who put practicality first. As the weather between the train station and the office continues to become more treacherous, adventure gear centric Gorpcore is finding increasing relevance even in the wardrobes of city dwellers.