junkie_dolphin

Hearing some talk that Veilance is having another go at a women's line. Big if true.

1 hour ago, thatslapz said:

Nice, do you know if there will be new colors for the Operand? Or a straight re-issue of black/peat?

Black and Dark Navy this time around.

2 hours ago, branespload said:

no new shirts this season unfortunately. i haven't gotten a chance to check out FW18 but im hoping there's a proper dress shirt or something in a lighter color. wasnt too big a fan of the operand LS

No new shirts planned for FW18. Just the Operand LS returning; they're not bringing back the Haedn Overshirt, last I heard. Lots of other cool things coming FW18 though, so I'm not mad.

The desire to absolve Acronym of accusations of orientalism ultimately prevents the article from seeing clearly what's going on here. There was never some sort of "pure" techwear to "corrupt" with asian fetishism or what-have-you. "Techwear" as a fashion trend begins and ends with the aesthetic that Acronym began pushing a few years back. Yes, many of these things existed before then—Osti, Vexed Generation, lots of outdoor clothing companies like Arc'teryx, materially experimental fashion designers, etc.—but it's being discussed on Grailed right now because of the Acronym/techninja aesthetic. r/techwearclothing barely goes near stuff that doesn't fit into that slouchy aesthetic—even Veilance is often ignored if it doesn't fit into that look. Acronym is pretty clear about this: they are just as concerned with aesthetics as with function. There is no "pure aesthetic of functionality."

From where did Acronym get its aesthetic? Some asian sources, sure—BLAME!, Akira, etc.—but from where did those sources get their aesthetics? From the same people that influenced "western cyberpunk": Metal Hurlant, largely, and its aesthetic legacy (which includes Star Wars, by the way, which heavily influenced Otomo)—and we all know how much the French loved their orientalism. This is a problem you run into when looking at the history of orientalism in Asia (I'm thinking specifically of Japan): for example, Japan becomes westernized rapidly in the latter half of the 19th century, then "rediscovers" its buried cultural legacy in the earlier part of the 20th century—but it is now so westernized that its academics cannot help but see Japan's history through a western lens. And so you get "oriental orientalism"—Japanese scholars fetishizing their own past as something alien and wondrous.

Does Errolson's partial-Chinese heritage somehow protect him from accusations of cultural appropriation or orientalism? The guy grew up in Canada and lives in Berlin, and in any case it's not as though all east asians are the same.

To be clear, I think the whole line of critique is flawed—but I also think that, if you're going to go there, it's not acceptable to give your favourite designers a pass based on their (vaguely-defined) race.

1 hour ago, Appleseed said:

^as painfully illiterate as that Redditor post on ACR a few months ago. This one manages to list Errolson as 'the man responsible for....Arc'teryx Veilance...' L O L

Yikes, I missed that one on the first read-though. Jesus... I mean, I can understand how you could come to that conclusion, reading through the literature and the hype-talk. Conroy tended to keep out of the spotlight, and in general I think Veilance has been much more reluctant to present a single person as a figurehead. Even during the big press thing that happened back when they did the pop-up store, they sort of split the interviews between Taka and Lars...

31 minutes ago, johngalt said:

Well Errolson did do a lot of consulting for Veilance when it first launched. I wouldn't credit him all the work but he did help the brand find its cadence 

I've heard from people closer to the project that basically Errolson helped with some preliminary stuff, but he didn't have much (if any) input into the products themselves. They were more interested in the problem of marketing technical garments as menswear, so they consulted with him on that. Weirdly, most of the people who worked on that initial Veilance season have moved on (one of them is actually a lead designer at Aritzia now).

18 minutes ago, brainerd666 said:

@Inkinsurgent I’ve been drooling over LEAF gear for the last year and half. Sucks that’s it’s Police/Military access only. 

https://www.911supply.ca/collections/vendors?q=Arcteryx

10 minutes ago, MBP12 said:

Does anyone know if the SS18 conduct anorak will see any changes? 

No changes, just different colours.

There’ll be a softshell pant with four-way stretch in fw18, to match the Isogon MX (which was posted earlier this thread). More excited for that than any other pant coming from Veilance, since I love my Outlier OG Leans so much.

21 hours ago, matthewcng said:

I was visiting SSENSE.COM and came across the Special Make Up Monitor Down. FW18? Already?

https://www.ssense.com/en-us/men/product/arcteryx-veilance/grey-down-monitor-coat/2821398

Those things are still floating around all over. I know a guy who managed to customer request one at an Arc'teryx store. It's true though, they'll be getting a proper release FW 2018.

11 hours ago, CB200 said:

Conroy's return would be interesting. To my eyes, he set the design vision and built the blocks for the line. Other's have had to colour inside the lines that were set by his legacy to keep a through line for designs. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, but could be a challenge for other designers to stick to a vision that someone else set. I'd hope to see more interesting pieces, and materials if this is true. 

It was always his baby. It'd be great to see him pick up where he left off—not that I didn't like what Lars brought to the table.

Word on the street is Conroy's back on Veilance. Big if true.

6 hours ago, Haackk said:

Damn. That’s a shame. I take it you know that from personal experience with the jacket? Do you know if it’s a well known problem regarding the construction, like the crotch tears on the Veilance pants, or might you have been an unlucky cat with a bad sample? 

That specific jacket is from Arc'teryx's infamous "24" line—their urban stuff from mainline, sort of the poor man's Veilance—which is almost always garbage. Let's just say I know a few people who would be in a position to accurately judge the rate of failure of these pieces. That jacket ("shacket") and the Therme/Patera parkas have (I'm told) more problems than virtually any other garment currently sold by the brand. It's Voronoi AR-level failure, except that the Voronoi's are produced in much more limited quantities, so...

That being said, if you're looking for a nice clean down jacket, there'll be one coming in Veilance in FW18.

1 hour ago, Inkinsurgent said:

this. i've communicated this very point to AV in the past. also the angle at which the seam sits concentrates shear forces on a small spot in the seam. however, while AV says they're aware of this issue, it seems like they don't actually get that many warranty claims related to seams popping. 

I've personally heard from customer service that at least ten failed Voronoi ARs have been sent to the studio for analysis, at the request of said studio. They're looking into it, but it probably won't be addressed till FW19.

18 hours ago, Haackk said:

Anyone here have any experience with the Arcteryx Mainline Rico shacket? Looks like a pretty dope down filled shirt jacket, which imo looks way cooler than the Cerrium. Apropriate for urban cold weather condition as well as more outdorsy stuff. Am I right or not? 

WARNING WARNING

DANGER DANGER

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Those seams leak down like nobody's business. 0/10 would not fuck.

5 minutes ago, danii said:

bad attitude? sorry you deleted it would like to know what's bad attitude about:

-saying fakes are wrong

-saying blake learned lesson from Errolsson and there is no need to post it again here

did not say anything I would not say irl.

Thing is, I agree; I certainly wouldn't try to sell a bag so obviously indebted to someone else's design. But you can't honestly tell me that you think your own designs are so much further from Errolson's that you're in any position to talk about "originality." I'm sure you'll point to details and say "look, Acronym never did this specific thing..." —well yeah, fair enough dude, so it's not quite a fake... but if you zoom out it's still very obviously aping the Acronym aesthetic. Personally, I have no issue with that—do what makes you happy—but don't lecture people on originality:

11 hours ago, danii said:

Why can't everyone just take his time and design something original instead of being copycat? Making an original design takes time=money, using already created design takes less. When you can appreciate the time acronym team takes to create a perfect functional darts on P10, you cannot justify someone taking shortcuts.

Last but not least, creating original bag is not rocket science.

I wrote a post calling danii on his hypocrisy and general bad attitude, but then I deleted it. I don’t really need to say it, do I? I know a lot of guys in real life who only lurk this forum because of gatekeepers like you guys. msoldano hit the nail on the head.

Isogon MX. Softshell. FW18 indeed.

7 hours ago, johngalt said:

I wish they made it in Ash or Soot this season. Ended up getting mine in Dark Navy. What large pockets are you referring to? The Graph as I know it is pocketless. Are you sure you're not referring to the Dyadic? I feel you on the dress up part, I work in a casual-ish office and I can get some wear out of the Graph over a shirt. 

You're right, AV is "overpriced" but there are certain items that merit a higher price as they either grant greater utility. I have no problem paying retail for the Voronoi, Nomin or Field. They're items that are labour intensive to make, use costly fabrics and simply don't have a comparable substitute. With the Graph, its hard to swallow almost $500 for a sweater. The merino knit feels super premium but at that price I could get Cucinelli or Berluti sweater. I know its almost false equivocation but the idea is that the price point approaches a totally different market and the rate of growth between price and utility simply doesn't match. 

I will probably take back my words after a few wears. Thanks. Looking forward to wearing this with more AV items

Not sure I’m qualified to comment on the price—I’ll only say that we are talking about relatively sophisticated patterns, compared to, say, the merino cardigans that Outlier has done in the past (in many ways I think Outlier is doing better merino than anyone, including Veilance... but for me the pattern-making isn’t anywhere near what I’d hope for at that price).

The graph has become the single most-worn thing in closet—I own two, probably going to get a third before the reboot next year—it’s really versatile, surprisingly warm and wind-resistant, and in the weather we’ve been having where I am, there hasn’t been much call for anything much warmer. Of course it’s also great for layering.

the single flaw, for me, is the branded zipper pull, which I’ve learned to tolerate... but I hate that the name is there. At that price, I don’t want my cardigan to be googlable.

2 hours ago, branespload said:

That’s actually my only critique of the jacket and why I prefer how it looks when worn open. It gives your silhouette a phantom belly in that it sticks out towards the front a little bit even if you’re pretty slim. I guess it doesn’t offer much waist adjustment because the jacket is meant for a west coast/less severe climate, which is also why it doesn’t have a dedicated hood or full coverage collar.

In real wind + rain I opt for Mionn IS + Monitor, so the Achrom is a bit of a narrow use case for me. But my brother in SF for example, gets by with the Achrom as his only coat

Yeah, it looks sick worn open. I find when it gets really brutally cold out I'm fine layering a Graph under it—that seems to fill out the body a little more. Interesting that it's not coming back next year—they're really moving away from Coreloft for Veilance.

4 minutes ago, branespload said:

not to mention they need to engineer their own manufacturing equipment to reach the execution they do for some of the stuff. i think the patrol takes 18 hours actually lol

It's those buttons—they tuck away into their own little pockets. Each of those pockets supposedly takes at least an hour to do.

Been wearing my new Achrom IS a little more frequently, now that it's getting a bit colder. Branespload has already championed it pretty heavily, so I won't say too much—only that it's a pretty weird jacket, but I'm warming up to it. One strange thing about it is the way that the front sort of sticks out; there's no waist-adjustment system at the bottom of the jacket (unlike the Mionn IS Jacket, or the Node Down), and the stiffness of the waterproof zipper causes the jacket to stick out in a way that can allow wind to go up into the jacket a little bit. This isn't necessarily a bad thing—for a jacket with this kind of insulation, it's not the end of the world that you'd get a bit of ventilation—but it's odd that there's no option to tighten it around your hips. I also imagine that my lack of hips probably makes this issue more pronounced.

Curious to hear your thoughts Branespload.

Looks like the wallets are available on the site.

1 hour ago, SuE said:

What happened to the pullover?

Canned for this season, I'm told. They weren't happy with what was coming back from the factories.

I'm just sort of baffled by the fact that they haven't brought back the Mionn IS Comp Jacket...

Has anyone else found that when they go true to size with acronym the garment is usually a little tight across the chest? This has been my experience. I wonder if sizing up would be my only recourse, or if it’s something special about the fit that I’m missing (the rest of the jacket usually feels fine).

1 hour ago, johngalt said:

I have the Arris, Partition, Actuator, Field shell, Field OS, Haedn jacket and OS, Isogon terratex, Blazer LT, Galvanic and Frame LS. I know its mostly outerlayers but any recs for pieces I should buy would be welcome. 

I champion utility and am not a fan of the Conduct under other items. Feel free to post new fits or revisit old ones. -

The Graph Cardigan has been a big suprise for me, in terms of versatility. It’s slim enough to fit under a lot of stuff (my Mionn vest and jacket, my Achrom...) but warm enough to be worn on its own even in pretty cool conditions. Also looks sharp af.

On 10/10/2017 at 3:54 PM, branespload said:

I review wallets for a living and I have the billfold so I guess I am qualified to chime in here lol

Here's an album of the casing card wallet just so you have a sense of how they look

https://imgur.com/a/S5QRW

I have both the card wallet as my EDC and the billfold (USD sized) that I don't really use ever. Basic rundown is that they're Veilance spec'd horween leather out of chicago, made in canada. Laser cut then laminated with a synthetic backer in the billfold and card pocket sections for some extra durability. Slight water resistance, more than a regular leather but not necessarily waterproof or anything. The Veilance spec leather does break in, but doesn't necessarily patina as drastically as other Horween, so it's a bit more hardwearing in that regard. Interesting tidbit -- pretty sure the same industrial designer who did the Apple branded iPhone leather case made the Casing collection (http://hiatas.com/category/work/).

I could go on and on about the card wallet, but the short of it is that it's very compact for how luxe and durable it feels, but it isn't exactly the smallest in its class (bested by the Discommon x Venn thermoformed wallet). It looks super sleek and timeless but one issue is that because of its symmetric design and lack of external branding, you have no visual cue to know at-a-glance which cards will be on what side. Tiny thing but I'm a wallet nerd, it's just another consideration when going to swipe my metrocard

As for the billfold, it's a solid attempt but not my favorite. Don't have pics handy but the main thing is how bulky it gets when folded. It's incredibly slim when brand new and flat, of course, but notice how the card pocket layout forces you to stack cards on top of each other, then fold the entire wallet over. There's no cascading of the cards to average out their thickness. Then, when you add bills, it gets thicker, then folding it over doubles that obviously. Another thing is that the "back" of the billfold section is higher than the "front" of it, where the card pockets are located, so over time the top excess molds in a weird, flappy way. It isn't as clean-looking as I'd like but it does help with access and reducing weight. If you handle cash often it's a reasonably nice wallet, but if you're really picky like me you might find it disappointing. That said, I've seen lots of people are happy with theirs, so hopefully someone can chime in.

lmk if you have any specific questions

There are also some massive changes coming to the Graph for FW19. So if you like the current version... stock up.

1 hour ago, branespload said:

i dont remember any changes, i think the mid blue becomes a true navy in ss18 according to the veilance instagram coverage of the liberty fairs fashion show exhibit thing

No changes to the pattern or materials; just one new colour (dark navy).