The S.T.R.O.N.G.G. Method

Exciting Post-GORP developments

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— Jonah & Erin

When Blackbird Spyplane first hit the scene back in Spring 2020, we were heavily associated with a few things, among them Newsletter Excellence, delightful wordplay, and — oh baby — GORP, a.k.a cool outdoor clothes.

Thanks to the pandemic lockdowns and more-positive astral confluences, 2020 was a big year for GORP generally. And BBSP was “true to it,” not “new to it”: My (Jonah’s) early swag education unfolded in my native NYC in the ‘90s, when what we now call GORP first found an audience beyond actual outdoorspeople, rocked in a “fashion” way by status-conscious yuppies (who copped North Face and Mountain Hardwear at Paragon and Tent ‘n’ Trails) and style-conscious teenagers (who shoplifted and/or begged their parents to buy these pieces from the same places.) In my case, price-conscious Papa Spyplane drove me to the reasonably priced and admirably un-sexy outdoor outfitter Campmor in Paramus, NJ, to kindly buy me one of their Made in U.S.A. house-brand fleeces. Their ‘80s and ‘90s-era mail-order catalogs are deep-cut legends of GORP retail history:

Real ones know

By 2020 Erin and I had moved from NYC to the Bay — birthplace of some of the greatest gorpmakers in history — and we were already rocking that s**t on these ribboning coastal trails and under these soaring redwood cathedrals when it became a dominant trend the world over.

Here in summer 2024, however, the most recent GORP wave has long since crested and rushed back to sea. What remains are many staple pieces that still look great today, if not particularly “bleeding edge,” and other pieces whose aesthetic appeal comes firmly second to their utility: i.e., your Arc’teryx rainshell stands ready for an actual rainstorm, not for filming yourself in your shower as a TikTok bit.

But, of course, there are also fresh post-GORP discoveries to be made! Emerging slappers that will define “The Post-GORP Era”…

For one example, I’ve been wearing a pair of Obōz Sawtooth II Los for the last year, ever since we started seeing old crunchy East Bay residents looking tremendous in them on a local hike we love. We wrote about them in the sletter in May 2023 and praised their pleasing “ovoid bulbousness,” “friendly insectoid mesh ventilation peekaboo cutouts” and “chunkily undulating” sole — aesthetic elements that also apply to all manner of currently popping cuckoo Oakley footwear.

For another example, I’ve also been wearing an oversize colorblock nylon windbreaker from the Japanese line Stein that I first spotted at C’H’C’M’ … And I’ve been feeling the look of similarly oversize colorblock nylon hiking / track pants from labels like Kiko Kostadinov, Colin Meredith, Ranra and beyond…

Does something unite all these pieces??

Yes, but for a bit, Erin and I couldn’t quite put our fingers on it… We sensed that these and other garments catching our eye right now were speaking a broadly similar design language … a language that has certain phonemes in common with ~2020-2022-era GORP, but which also pushes into different surprising directions… e.g., into the Cold War Era Eastern Bloc past… and into a techy, raverish vision of future… with some Y2K energies tossed in that it’s played out to call “Y2K,” so instead we like the word orbital, which feels like a very Y2K-type word… The overall aesthetic is not quite GORP, but it’s not not, either.

Finally, we were out on a hike the other day — Erin was wearing her Obōz, and I was wearing some roasted all-silver Norda x Satisfys — when the epiphany hit us, and we knew Blackbird Spyplane owed it to the culture to officially name, anoint, and consecrate this look…

Yes!! We’re talking about that fire “Soviet Techno Raver Orbital Neo-Gorp Gymnast” look — if you wanna look fresh (as opposed to simply “cool”) in GORP in 2024, you wanna explore the S.T.R.O.N.G.G. method

What kinds of pieces are S.T.R.O.N.G.G.? For instance…

A. Trés Bien x Diemme shoes — color pulls this out of the straight GORPY realm and nudges it into S.T.R.O.N.G.G. jurisdiction
B. Oakley Factory Team footwear
C. Stein’s Trainer’s Track Jacket (I have it in the khaki & black colorway)
D. Ranra’s “Is” Colorblock Track Pants
E. Vintage Nike Air Rifts
F. Loutre’s tonal-brown patchwork regenerated neoprene vest

And…

A. Our Legacy Klove sneakers
B. Stein’s Cupro Bicolor Combined Knit pullover (sick in all-black too)
C. This swaggy Kiko look we called out in our FW24 runway report
D. We’ve written about our love for “silver slapper” running sneakers — those are sort of S.T.R.O.N.G.G.-adjacent but they’re giving “mid-’00s suburban American dad” in a way that isn’t squarely S.T.R.O.N.G.G. Whereas the Mizuno Wave Bolt 6 volleyball shoe above is S.T.R.O.N.G.G. as hell.
E. Again, Obōz’s Swagtooth II Lows (like the Obōz Firebrand), put an emphasis on GORP but the very cool orbital-vibed outsole puts these squarely in S.T.R.O.N.G.G. method territory
F. Basically all the Kiko Asics are S.T.R.O.N.G.G. but especially styles like the Novalis, pictured.

And…

A. One of a couple cool track jackets from NYC’s Commission
B. Ranra’s made in Italy red-trimmed cream ripstop jacket
C. And sticking with Ranra, peep the styling here. There’s no other particularly S.T.R.O.N.G.G. pieces in sight besides the jacket, but it works.
D. Ditto here, except with Ranra pants spreading powerful S.T.R.O.N.G.G. energy throughout the rest of the fit.
E. Colin Meredith pants
F. And a sick patchwork Colin Meredith bag here, in that same color combo, and here in black
G. Purple Mountain Observatory pants
H. And Wander x Grammicci patchwork pants

Now…

“Blackbird Spyplane,” you may be thinking. “You are brilliant, this look rips, and the S.T.R.O.N.G.G. acronym is a preposterous yet accurate delight. But real talk I’m kind of skeeved out by synthetics right now… rocking these petroleum and forever chemicals, shedding microplastics into the watershed, it feels increasingly gross, so I’ve been trying to rock more natural fibers and also just generally steer my wardrobe away from hyper-techy energies and toward a more handmade, plant-based, Gaia-amenable feel.”

We feel you 100%. Get this:

The S.T.R.O.N.G.G. Method accommodates its own beautiful crunchy more-organic-vibed variants!!

For instance…

A. Loutre’s 100% organic cotton Mayhs Chinos, trimmed with rough-edged satin, made in the UK. Or, similarly,
B. Loutre’s cotton Pippin Cardigan, which has contrast-color knit inserts so it looks like a track jacket as emulated in a postapocalyptic society where machines have died and no factories remain to produce synthetics
C. Spyfriend Liv Ryan’s deadstock-acrylic & cotton blend Racer Sweater in Kiwi (on sale right now here, along with other colors.)
D. Liv Ryan’s deadstock-satin Bungee Pant in Cobalt
E. Also from Liv, another S.T.R.O.N.G.G. Method styling gem: the cropped track pants on ma with white Nike socks and flats?? A fantastic, sauced-out spin on the look.
F. In an even more muted register, the Made in Japan, murdered-out, all-leather Hender Scheme Manual Industrial Products 28 somehow takes its source inspiration — the New Balance 991 — into the haute-S.T.R.O.N.G.G. conversation.

We’re in Paris at the moment, and you know we have our eyes open for dope incoming S.T.R.O.N.G.G. Method Slappers across the runways, the showrooms and the STREETS… Let us know about any you’re feeling, too.

Real quick —

If you’re in Paris this week, too, come join us on Thurs. June 20, 18h-21h, as we co-host a fashion-week party with Neighbour and Colbo at Le Mary Celeste — one of the Marais’s best restaurants, on one of its most beautiful corners.