Guide to Urban Techwear

We wear clothes to be comfortable, to cover up our shame, and more importantly for our protection. Technical clothing, focuses on incorporating functionality using textiles and construction techniques to protect the user from their environment. When you mention clothes a wide array of different designs will come to mind and it goes the same with technical clothing, although the fashion community likes to lump technical clothing into this one style. This idea that it's a futuristic military style, but that's just not the case. Conroy Nachtigall a former designer of Arc'teryx Veilance explains creating technical clothing as: "It's not thinking about zippers is not thinking about seem tapes, not thinking about ... all these little elements. Those are all part of the end goal"

Let take the time to defuse what technical clothing has become into its various styles it has grown these past years. Causal Techwear, has the basic familiarity when you think of clothes: shirts, pants, socks, etc. Using advanced fabrics in such a low-profile look, casual techwear can be incorporated into anything often being some of the best additions to a wardrobe for any aesthetic. Tech focused is taking one step up, putting the technology first and its design second having more functionality than casual techwear, but also very versatile when constructing a fit, often taking a simple more modern approach to its style.

Utilitarian, or the community likes to brand it "Techninja" is centered around the futuristic dystopia placed in an urban setting. Brands that center themselves around this push for an ever-greater liberation in movements, incorporating various storage options, increasing ease of use, and often using the latest materials to come out of the woodworks. Do not get this confused, do not try to lump all techwear into this mindset because it’s just not true. Hopefully you understand what techwear is, and appreciation for all the forms it can take.

Introduction to Technical Functions

Water The protection of water and other fluids that the wearer might encounter is called being waterproof or taking one step down, water resistance. To be waterproof means to be impervious to water, however with enough downpour water can begin to permeate. Water resistance being one step down can repel water, however for a shorter amount of time.

Wind To be windproof is similar to being waterproof, to be impervious to the element and being wind resistant is follows the same as being water resistant obviously in the context air. Although most windproof shells are thin being windproof allows the wearer to kept warm by keeping the air inside trapped within the layers and keep the rushing cool air out.

Heat When dealing with heat it can go both ways, but here this will deal with heat retention which is the act of keeping heat housed within the layers by keeping wind from entering the outer layer and insulating the air inside.

Breathable For clothing to be breathable is the act of allowing water to move in and out of your layers. When talking about breathable fabrics it can go into two categories: hydrophilic and microporous. Hydrophilic is the love for water, it allows incoming water to permeate the surface and the water below the membrane to be push outwards. Microporous lets water escape from your body, however its surface is impermeable leaving the user dry. However it's still susceptible to water vapor.

Understanding The Technical Wardrobe

Shells

A shell is commonly referred to as simply as just a jacket, and people that call it this wouldn’t be wrong. At the end of this we hope you’ll appreciate the term shell over calling it a jacket. The term shell is used by companies that specialize in technical clothing as it implies a greater layer of protection from the outside. Such features a shell would come with is water resistant, wind proof, heat retention and more. Shells go into two categories, the hard-shell and the softshell

The hard-shell is the primary layer, often the most expensive piece to the arsenal. The hard-shell provides the most function and durability out of an entire fit. The hard-shell membrane would include the basics such as waterproof, wind resistant or proofed, large carrying capacity and breathability.

The softshell, given by its name isn’t as durable as the hard shell, however it does share many qualities. The common tradeoff between the softshell and a hard-shell is ease of use and many functions that would come to wearing a hard-shell. Still they retain such attributes likes breathability, heat retention, and protection from wind and water.

Mid-Layer

Not essential to one’s wardrobe but a great addition to provide the wearer a layer of insulation beneath their shell and even add means of utility with straps and compartments to carry items when temperatures are too hot to dawn cargo pants and a hard-shell. This layer consists of hoodies, vests, sweaters, fleece, and insulating T-shirts.

Base

Given by its name, the base layer is the absolute bottom layer in any fit. This would include the average: socks, underwear, undershirts, and shirts. In the functional clothing industry, they often carry attributes that levitate around making the wearer more comfortable, such things like this include: breathability, anti-bacterial, deodorizing, heat retention, stretchable etc.

Merino is the common material in this field, merino wool is wicking and a natural temperature regulator, very durable and long lasting, however buying clothes made of merino could be very expensive. Other brands, such as UNIQLO might use a blend of materials to produce layers that aid in function. Companies that practice such things tend to be much cheaper and don't provide the many functions gained by wearing a layer of merino.

Pants

Pants are a small part of the techwear market, but slowly gaining more momentum. Because of the slow pace of production, options are limited and prices kept very high. Pants have the capacity to serve the same functionality as hard-shells with increase carrying capacity, resistance and proof against wind and water, stretchable and breathable.

When looking to purchase pants on a budget look towards more sporty brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Uniqlo as they provide joggers and some even higher tier pants that house the basics of function.

Footwear

A wide variety of footwear should be available no matter what style one peruses, in techwear footwear could focus on being sporty. Adding spring and height to each step commonly knitted to add room for stretch and breathability. It could also take a more outdoors route with emphasis on protection against the elements such as water resistance and heat retention, made for a more rugged environment and look.

Brands

Brand	Catagories	Description
4Dimension	Utilitarian	Small Taiwanese label producing inexpensive techwear outerwear, tops and pants. Quality is on par with Guerilla Group, not comparable to large manufacturers such as Nike or Acronym but they are specifically targeted at the techwear aesthetic and this is a much cheaper alternative than Veilance and Acronym for brand new items. Fit is on the small side.
Acronym	Utilitarian	Military aesthetic, fashion forward cuts and functions, latest technical garments. High price. Footwear collaboration with Nike more form over function. Very strong resale and hard to get cheaply.
Adidas	Athletic	Sportswear brand with footwear lines that can work with the aesthetic such as the Tubular and Flux range. Certain apparel from Adidas Performance and Originals line can be found with technical fabrics and futuristic aesthetics. Outlets and eBay can be used to find good deals. Quality is quite high for the price.
Arc'teryx LEAF	Utilitarian	The Law-Enforcement and Armed Forces line of the outdoors brand Arcterx. High priced but good build quality and materials. Can be found on the second hand market on eBay sold by retired soldiers relatively cheap. Mix with casual elements like sneakers to reduce the military/tactical look of these pieces.
Arc'teryx Veilance	Tech-Focused	Arcteryx’s minimalist urban line. Very high priced, high resale. Hard to find a good deal on this even second hand. Good construction quality and use of materials. Arguably the best quality for urban technical apparel alongside Prada Sport. Simple, mostly black designs are versatile and work in a range of styles.
Descente Allterrain	Tech-Focused	Techwear diffusion line by a Japanese outdoors brand. Quality and price are high and tends to be slightly over-branded for the aesthetic.
Final Home	Ulititarian	Japanese streetwear brand with military and urban design references. Quality is low but the design aesthetic works very well with techwear. Don’t expect any technical fabrics. Can be found on eBay for a moderate price used.
Guerilla Group	Utilitarian	Military inspired futuristic streetwear that is affordably priced for brand new items. Limited use of technical fabrics and quality control is not as high as large manufacturers. If 4Dimension is the affordable version of Acronym, Guerrilla Group is the more affordable version of WTAPS.
Ice Breaker	Outdoor	Merino wool line with offerings ranging from stealth-tech to tech aesthetic. Great for F/W baselayer. Among the highest quality merino fibers you can get. Great hoodies and tech button-ups.
Maharishi	Utilitarian	UK streetwear brand with a military/utilitarian aesthetic. Can be found cheaply used on eBay, especially from the UK. Limited use of technical fabrics. Good source of cargo pants and bombers.
Mission Workshop	Casual	Cycling oriented designs, high quality construction, use of technical fabrics ranging from neoshell to schoeller textiles. Designs are clean, prices are moderately high. Also a source backpacks and messengers with very high build quality.
Nike (NikeLab, ACG, Sphere, NSW)	Athletic	One of the best sources for inexpensive techwear garments. Numerous shoe models work with the aesthetic and have some of the best footwear technology in the world. Waterproof clothing and farbics such as Gore-Tex can be found across many product lines. Nike Sphere is often discounted and marketed towards runners and is a good source of inexpensive waterproof shells. ACG is expensive new but resale is poor and eBay is a good source for cheap second hand jackets and pants.
Outlier	Casual	Casualwear looking tech line with amazing shorts and pants, but also some other good offerings. Focusing on function over design, creating very basic pieces.
Patagonia	Outdoor	Outdoor line with a focus on ethical/eco friendly manufacturing processes. more focused on performance than tech aesthetic, but their serious tech pieces are done in modern and fashionable cuts for the most part. similar to TNF except their garments are taken seriously within the innawoods community. Comparable to Arcteryx.
Stone Island Shadow Project	Utilitarian	Diffusion line of an Italian sportswear/casual clothing company. High priced with good resale. Some technical materials used, strong urban military design references.
The North Face	Outdoor	Outdoors brand that can be found anywhere new and used. Can be very expensive and resale is decent because of strong demand from the general public and outdoors enthusiasts. Outwear shells and backpacks can work with the aesthetic.
WTAPS	Utilitarian	Japanese streetwear label with military references. Occasionally has technical fabrics and design elements. Resale of this brand is high.
Y-3	Athletic	Sportswear collaboration between Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas. Construction is not robust, more suited for a fashion oriented look than real performance outdoors or for exercise. New Y-3 Sport line has recently been released and provides more focus on utilitarian designs and less on the fashion aspect.