While the South Korean label creates utilitarian wares such as technical trousers and down-filled outerwear crafted from performance-specific nylon, to describe Post Archive Faction (PAF) as an outdoor-wear brand is downplaying it.
We've spent the past few years speaking about outdoor-ready clothing (aka gorpcore) more than ever, gushing over waterproof shoes and GORE-TEX jackets. However, for all of the innovative designs and cutting-edge fabrics brands like Salomon or Arc'teryx develop, PAF has managed to find its space by offering a different proposition than just pure practical gear — which is why the brand was shortlisted for the 2021 LVMH prize.
Founded in 2018, Post Archive Faction quickly gained publicity when Kendrick Lamar wore its black puffer jacket for a Saturday Night Live performance just a mere two months into its inception. Boosted by the publicity that this caused, it began carefully crafting new designs in limited numbers and found itself with a website of sold-out styles.
Since then, every new collection sees the brand cover new ground, such as incorporating sheer fabrics or camouflage interpreted as three-dimensional applique, but the puffer jacket has remained something of a specialty, and its best-seller.
Available now from the Highsnobiety Shop, its 5.0 Down Center Jacket is the result of continuous experimentation with down-filled outerwear. It features an off-center two-way zipper at the front, which makes for various styling options, and a boxy-fit constructed from lightweight, performance-specific nylon.
Delivering an almost post-apocalyptic aesthetic through abstract shapes and hi-tech fabrics, the label's signature jacket is just one example of the label's distinct perspective.
Elsewhere, the label offers has gorpcore essentials such as cargo pants and balaclavas elevated through utility-focused details that include incorporated ear loops or external pockets that can be removed and converted into bags.
Creating what Creative Director and Co-Founder Dongjoon Lim has described as a study in "evolving uniforms," check out some of the label's pieces below.
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