We’re through the looking glass aren’t we? The zeitgeist. The world has changed and those of us who have been around a little longer than most are clinging on desperately, trying to make sense of the rapidly evolving face of not just clothing but the culture that surrounds it.
Ok, maybe that’s a bit of an alarmist view, coming from someone staving off the threat of a midlife crisis. But I still like the stuff I liked ten or twenty years ago and while I’ve matured a little, I still wear trainers and coats with hoods, despite being closer to 50 than 40 (just).
It’s not just personal to me either. Whenever someone talks to me about age demographics I tense up in opposition. I feel like now – more than ever, how old you are is less of an indicator than it ever was, regarding your tastes, behaviours and cultural touchstones. A 19 year old can wear broadly similar stuff to a 43 year old and neither looks too much out of place. They stand alongside each other at gigs, queue up for the same limited release footwear and embrace whatever the latest trendy pursuit is (padel, indoor climbing etc). Throw things back to the era your Dad grew up in, and not only were gender roles more pronounced but your age signified a lot more than it seems to these days. Age is still a guide of course, just nowhere near as much as it used to be.
This is all a precursor for me justifying why I really like what Mertra are doing despite it sitting beyond what my conventional comfort zone should probably be these days. It’s also my way of explaining that when things change, it’s a good thing. Embrace it lads/Dads. It’s the reason why buying a heat-reactive puffer from a brand based in Australia makes so little sense that it somehow simultaneously makes all the sense. Things change, conventions get challenged and it’s a good thing. It might be 40-odd degrees in the shade down in Oz, but Mertra aren’t about staying in their traditional lane, and as a result they’re making clothing for those of us for whom a beach barbecue on the 25th is a laughable scenario. Plus if we’re talking about change, this jacket comes in a colour that quite literally changes.
As long as there are brands like Mertra around the future is in safe hands.
Even if those hands are mainly used to show off how your coat changes colour.
Pre-order the Mertra Heat Reactive Puffer here
