The Arc’teryx beanie is one of today’s simplest no-brainer semi-outdoorsy fashion flexes. Long since appropriated from actual adventurers, Arc’teryx’s beanie is at least partially so good because its success feels incidental.
Like, Arc’teryx didn’t design its intarsia-knit skullcaps to be stylistic signifiers, which in turn made them exactly that. So much of streetwear is reliant on borrowed cues that an easy-to-style beanie becomes ideal IYKYK wink, an effortless way to infuse a familiar logo into any ol’ outfit.
Arc’teryx likely knows how big its beanies have become by now, though.
As we head into the cooler months of 2024, Arc’teryx quietly released a retooled iteration of its least loud hat, transforming its humblest toque into a comparably loud statement piece.
It’s clear that Arc’teryx is tapping into a still-extant demand for Arc’teryx branding, an inclination reflected by Aries’ parody beanie and ROA’s suspiciously similar knit hat.
But there’s no dead bird on this once-minimalist style, just all-caps Arc’teryx text on a tonal beanie. Whereas it was primarily available in muted monochrome shades via Arc’teryx’s website (for only $50!), the Arc’teryx script beanie is now reborn in bold blue and volt yellow, turning a bit of quiet outdoor into something, uh, not so quiet.
The quintessential Arc’teryx beanies — those with branding and bird all over, one memorably worn by Frank Ocean back in 2019 — remain the brand’s most visible (literally) headwear success story, not least because they’re an easy to style acknowledgement of menswear’s perpetual trek-leaning tendencies.
Now that Arc has begrudgingly shifted to veritable street fashion label, complete with graphic-friendly sub-label, it’s been taking patient steps towards subtly acknowledging its newfound status.
This may have been more of an acquiescence than a purposeful push.
By now, for instance, TikTok kids are collecting Arc’teryx beanies, Arc’teryx is hosting experiential pop-ups across the globe, and Arc’teryx’s hypedcollabs sell out as quickly as Supreme drops once did.
The reason that no one’s at all surprised by a neon or high-vis blue Arc’teryx beanie, despite the lack of marketing one way or another, is because this is simply the current state of Arc’teryx.
Even its simplest stuff has been reborn as statement pieces.