This year has proven to be a good one for outdoor gear fanatics and history buffs…
Firstly, the announcement of Mountain Style Book, which details a history of British outdoor gear & clothing between 1953-2000, got us very excited, but we have now also become aware of some news from across the pond that wildly stimulates our inner outdoor clothing nerd…
That news comes from long-time friends of Proper, the Outdoor Recreation Archive. If you’re not familiar with their work, the Outdoor Recreation Archive is a historical collection of books, catalogues, periodicals, photographs and other ephemera that documents the history of outdoor gear through the ages.
Although the Outdoor Recreation Archive does have an Instagram account (one of our favourites on the entire app actually) it isn’t just a collection of nice digital images, but also a physical archive based at the Utah State University – we’ve not managed to get there yet, but have had countless dreams about visiting.
Anyway, the outdoor gear aficionados at the archive recently announced some very exciting news – the release of their own book, aptly titled, ‘The Outdoor Archive.’
The book is an ultimate collection of a century of outdoor magazine and catalogue covers, featuring 71 vintage and contemporary brands, including Patagonia, The North Face, and Snow Peak, amongst many others…
The evolution of graphic design in outdoor advertising is explored within its pages, alongside accompanying guest texts by creatives, designers, sportspeople and industry experts – offering an insight into one of the coolest visual marketing industries on the planet.
At Proper, we’re always on the lookout for the best coffee table books that money can buy, and this looks to be very much up there – just looking at the mocked-up pages is causing us to salivate.
An extremely limited number of 500 of the books are now available for preorder from here, with a general release set to take place in the Summer of 2025.
