The main thing you want from techwear is to always feel utterly unencumbered. The weight of the world ought to slide right off your shoulders, along with any inclement weather. That feeling is Veilance's specialty and its Fall/Winter 2022 collection epitomizes this ethos.
Veilance's whole schtick is to pare back the core layers of wardrobe essentials. Creative director Taka Kasuga — the Junya Watanabe vet who's also responsible for Arc'teryx System_A — specializes in dynamic patternmaking that follows form, then function, not so much fashion.
Kasuga's not a "fashion" guy, you see.
If you ever meet up with him at the Veilance showroom, he'll walk you through rows of unfettered garments, delicately hanging from metal racks.
Kasuga thrills to break down the importance of a seam here and the lining there. He gets excited when discussing the curve of an arm, the width of a hem.
But trends? Celebrity style? Social media callouts? No thanks!
You see this mentality in Kasuga's Veilance work, which encompasses the low-key menswear that has become the line's signature and the new womenswear collection that Kasuga has plotted for years.
His ultra-refined sense of getting garments to the point doesn't always get Arc'teryx fans going: there was a recent flare-up over Veilance's GORE-TEX totes.
But for most folks, the exquisite ease of the Veilance wardrobe is what keeps them coming back.
Fall/Winter 2022 doesn't reinvent the wheel here, it merely reinvigorates fan favorites with new colors and a couple tweaked shapes.
There's a few more Field styles on the way, epitomizing Kasuga's take on military outerwear. Tech Wool further blurs the line between business and technical wearables, making Veilance's streamlined shirts and slacks extra approachable.
The simplicity belies a depth of design, wherein the garments don't speak for themselves until you dig below the surface to uncover the intelligent seaming, the thoughtful use of technical textiles, the balanced proportions.
It's all about achieving that idealized attitude of feeling like you're wearing nothing at all. Veilance can't make wearing its clothes actually feel like nothing, obviously, but its streamlined silhouettes and featherweight fabrics provide the next best thing.
