Brands that have a Techwear Aesthetic or Technical Details

4Dimension
>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
>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
>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.

Arcteryx LEAF
>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.

Darn tough
>Only socks you need to own, highest quality you can get. Big time techwear staple, but 1-trick pony line.

Descente Allterrain
>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
>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.

Guerrilla Group
> 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.

Icebreaker
>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
>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
> 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.

Neighborhood Technical
>Technical diffusion line of a Japanese streetwear label. Rare and difficult to find. Check Yahoo!JP auctions. Interesting fit and use of some technical fabrics.

Nike (NikeLab, ACG, Sphere, NSW)
>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.

Outdoor research
>Affordable hit or miss (in terms of aesthetic) line, best functional rain shells you'll find under like $400 (helium 2 HD) and good soft-shell offerings.

Outlier
>Casualwear looking tech line with amazing shorts and pants, but also some other good offerings. more of a focus on aesthetic than function.

Patagonia
>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.

Polartec surplus
>Dope affordable military surplus fleeces that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing. Great starting point for midlayer.

Prada Sport
>Technical sportswear by luxury fashion house Prada. Uses top quality materials and construction is excessively good (6 rows of reinforced stitching in places). Second hand market is filled with this brand on eBay, especially from the UK. This is an affordable way to get a top-quality Gore-Tex shell. Pants are another good item from this brand with wide cuts and technical stretch materials. Minimalistic designs work with the aesthetic and colorways are typically black, navy and beige.

prAna
>yoga line with very good stealth-tech pants and shorts among their line. amazing price to quality ratio. similar to outlier, but more budget-minded with a greater focus on function.

REI co-op
>budget oriented techwear basics line. best budget puffies in term of insulation and construction/hardware. casual look.

RLX
>Technical sportswear diffusion line of Ralph Lauren. Well-made and plenty available new and second hand heavily discounted on eBay in the US. Especially good for pants, but some outerwear softshells can work with the aesthetic. Very rare to find good technical fabrics in this brand, but they do exist.

Stone Island Shadow Project
>Diffusion line of C.P. Company, an Italian sportswear/casual clothing company. High priced with good resale. Some technical materials used, strong urban military design references.

The North Face
>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.

Veilance
>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.

WTAPS
> Japanese streetwear label with military references. Occasionally has technical fabrics and design elements. Resale of this brand is high.

Y-3
> 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.