“If I was really going to go to the mountains and use things for their real purpose, I’d go to the specialist,” said Luke Meier of the pervasiveness of utilitarian design in menswear, some of which he often offers himself both at OAMC and Jil Sander. “Menswear in general is informed by a lot of functional things,” the designer said, name checking military apparel and workwear. “But you can take things that are functionality-based and then translate them through a more delicate or elevated approach, and then it becomes authentic, because you appreciate the aesthetic quality that it has in it innately.”
This thought encompasses the ethos of OAMC, and explains its characteristic take on utility-wear. “There’s something beautiful about the aesthetics that are derived from certain utilitarian things,” Meier said, “so I take inspiration from that, but I’m not trying to recreate that aspect.” He added that clothes should be functional, whatever their purpose, and serve people in their everyday lives. This collection continued to inhabit the Alpine spirit that Meier explored for spring. There was a sense of adventure merged with an air of contemporary urbanity in this lineup, its pieces looking equally ready for a mountainous journey as for a day at work or a Sunday running errands. Such is the ambiguity of OAMC, which doubles up as its charm.
Tailoring this season is where Meier best captured his expansive point of view in menswear: There were oversized gilets and jackets cut with sharp lines and with utility pockets inserted rather than top applied, offering a thoughtful take on one of the recent menswear season’s most ubiquitous design signatures. Also compelling here were a pair of utility trousers darted and pleated at the knees, a formal but undeniably playful—and rounder—take on a familiar shape. “In this particular collection, we thought it was interesting to put tailoring in an outdoor context but still keep it elevated,” Meier said.
The season’s graphic element came courtesy of three of the United States’s national parks: Meier and his team employed archival photography from vintage wildlife and nature magazines to create handsome collages depicting animals, landscapes, and signage from Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Denali. While Meier’s garments featuring grainy images of foxes and deer had a charming quality to them, it was the graphicality of a canvas-white button down and trousers printed with park signage that felt the most compelling here. The words “See Yosemite with a park naturalist,” will instantly conquer the gorpcore crowd, though their off-center placement had a clever contemporary element to it that placed them beyond their immediate and obvious customer.
“We’re growing, and the eye wanders, proportion changes,” Meier said. The sleeves and backs of garments were rounded, knitwear was substantial and fluffy, down-filled garments were hefty and bulbous. There is a cheekiness to the way Meier makes the simplest of clothes that gives welcome nuance to OAMC. His approach at making garments is as exploratory as his wanderlust inspiration.
