For spring 2014, our design team took a step back from MEC’s traditional hiking collection, and asked if it was possible to do something different. Something that looked, fit, and moved differently, but didn’t sacrifice any of the performance or function that members expect of their MEC gear.
Spring Harrison – apparel designer, trail runner, backcountry skier, road biker, hiker – has been designing our backcountry collection for the past 10 years. She sat down to talk about the inspiration and motivation behind the redesign, and what she sees as the most innovative features in three new hiking pieces: the Amanita Pants, the Sparrowgrass Top, and the mid-layer Forager Hoodie.
Amanita Pants
- High performance ripstop with DWR treatment
- Elastic-style waistband
- Elastic cuffs Sparrowgrass Top
Sparrowgrass Top
- Polyester merino blend
- Relaxed fit
- Outdoor-inspired graphics Forager Hoodie
Forager Hoodie
- Polartec® High Loft fleece
- Hood with DWR treatment
- Pocket options
“The main idea driving the redesign of our hiking collection was options,” explains Spring. “There’s a prototypical ‘look’ for hikers, and we wanted to challenge what that look could be.”
The new apparel isn’t necessarily designed to take you from trails to city. But, as Spring explains, “Members can do that because the redesigned pieces aren’t visually categorized as ‘hiking gear,’ so it gives you some flexibility about where and how you wear them.”
“We’re finding that people tend to wear their clothes for everything. So if we can soften the look of hiking apparel without sacrificing any performance characteristics, then we give people the ability to make choices. Do they want a pant that’s specifically designed for one activity? Or are they looking for something a bit more versatile? Something that performs, but can more easily transition into day-to-day life.”
This collection does both. Spring fills us in on key features in three of the pieces:
Amanita PantsWe asked ourselves: What’s the ultimate hiking, climbing, travel pant? What’s the pant that people want in their arsenal for all their adventures?
With those questions in mind, the first challenge was to figure out what it was that drew out that ultimate-pant response in people. It came down to one thing: it feels like a second skin. You put it on, and you don’t even know it’s there. It just works with you.
FabricThis was the starting place for the Amanita. The fabric we ended up using stretches unlike any other pant fabric I’ve seen. You can turn yourself inside out and not feel restricted by the fabric. And it has high performance ripstop and DWR (durable water repellency) treatment, so it’s got all the technical aspects with all the mobility.
FitFor me, it’s all about comfort. But comfort contained in a really nice feminine package. A set waistband says, “This pant needs to fit this one size of person.” But an elastic-style waistband makes it more like a stretchy pant: it fits every body. So, by building a pant that’s not architecturally made for just one type of body, we modernized the look, made it much more comfortable, and broadened the range of body types it would fit.
FeaturesElastic cuffs: They’re incredibly functional. They keep out dirt, mud, and splashes, and they keep bugs from flying up your leg. And you can use the cuffs to turn Amanita pants into capris – hike them up and they stay put. It was just a matter of doing it in a modular, and modern, way.
Silhouette: The trimmed down waist and hipline means the silhouette isn’t too baggy, and still moves with you.
Amanita pants come in a 28.5in or 30in inseam, as well as capris and shorts. See? Options.
Sparrowgrass TopThis top is interesting. It started with us wondering, “If everyone’s comfortable in something cotton, why can’t your hiking shirt feel that way?” We wanted to give the Sparrowgrass the niceness of natural fibres – the touchiness, the comfort, the on-skin feel – but with more performance than plain cotton.
FabricWe went with a polyester-merino wool blend, which offers all of the moisture management and quick-drying features of a typical polyester hiking shirt, but without the same polyester feel. The addition of merino makes it feel more comfortable on your skin.
FitWe really played around with this silhouette. We already have tight, slim-fitting performance tops, so I wanted to create a relaxed top that members could just sort of live in. By designing something with a bit more flow and drape, it won’t feel like it’s constantly riding up. And a shape with a bit more ease lends itself to a more modern look too.
FeaturesOutdoor-inspired graphics: We launched seasonal graphics this year, and I feel they really reinforce what this collection is about: getting outside. The line drawings are of different types of vegetation areas you’d encounter when hiking – water, forest, grasslands and plains – all represented in these beautiful interpretations.
Be sure to check out the short-sleeved and tank top versions of the Sparrowgrass.
ForagerThe goal of this piece was to make the warmest, most packable, most lightweight technical fleece mid-layer.
FabricOur goal made our fabric decision a no-brainer. We went with Polartec® High Loft fleece – there’s nothing else like it on the market. It’s incredibly light and its longer fibres act like fur to trap heat. And because the knit is open, it isn’t dense, which makes it packable.
FeaturesDWR hood: A big issue with mid-layers, especially hooded ones, is that they tend to stick out of your shell. To minimize the chance of moisture getting into your clothing, we added a very light stretch woven material to the outside of the hood and treated it with DWR to keep precipitation at bay.
Pocket options: We put both performance and hand pockets on the Forager because we didn’t want to limit this jacket to one activity. If you’re a climber, the two chest pockets are easy to access in a harness, so you can stuff your gloves away – and if you want to take photos, they’re also great to put your phone in. And we put in handwarmer pockets for hikers to keep their fingers warm on cool mornings or during a lunch break.
Like what you see? Check out MEC’s new hiking collection in action in Off the Grid, Episode 2 of our Open Road series.
