Most clothing brands that have been around for more than a couple of decades are partial to a bit of heritage referencing – it’s a nice way to bolster the desirability of a product through some added nostalgia. Often this is shoddily done by including an old slogan somewhere in the tag, or making a product in a slightly faded wash and throwing a few buzzwords such as ‘classic’ ‘heritage’ or ‘vintage’ into the title.
But some brands go above and beyond doing the bare minimum to show an appreciation for their heritage, and one of these brands is Gramicci.
Gramicci was founded all the way back in 1982 by legendary climber, Mike Graham, a pioneering Stonemaster who lived, ate and slept climbing. When he wasn’t hanging off Yosemite’s magnificent granite walls by his fingertips, he was living a carefree life surrounded by them in the climbing mecca of Camp Four.
In the ’80s & ’90s, a great number of highly talented, carefree dirtbag climbers called Camp Four their home – now we’ve never been, but the stories we’ve read/heard make out that Camp Four was basically like a permanent Woodstock festival for fanatical climbing adrenaline junkies.
There’s no better story to indicate this than the one surrounding the brand’s name…
In an interview with Gripped Magazine, Mike said that the brand’s name came from a joke about them making the first all ‘Italian’ ascent of Half Dome, leading the Americans to adopt Italian monikers – Mike’s was Michaelangelo Gramicci.
He said: “There might have been some beer or maybe something else… Rick didn’t have to do anything with his name because he was Italian. We decided to call Gib Lewis Antonio Gibbo. And I’d always really admired Emilio Comici, so, you know, I’m Michelangelo Gramicci.”
This laid-back & carefree atmosphere surrounding Camp Four and Mike’s fellow Yosemite climbers at the time undeniably had a profound influence on Mike’s early designs for Gramicci – the colours were bright, the cuts were baggy, and the patterns were bold. These attributes led to the brand becoming very popular amongst climbers & general free spirits who roamed California in the ’90s.
Since Mike departed from Gramicci in 1999, the brand has toned it down a bit, but only slightly. They’re certainly not afraid to infuse some colour into their designs and are also not shy of referencing one or two of their heritage pieces.
To best convey Gramicci’s profound appreciation for their out-there, fun-loving inspired heritage, we’re going to take a look at some vintage products, and how the brand has referenced those in their modern designs.
Plaid Shorts
If you’re to type the phrase ‘vintage Gramicci’ into any search engine, you’ll be greeted with an abundance of images of one item in particular – plaid shorts.
It appears that in the ’80s and ’90s, a pair of shorts that looked like they were constructed of tea towels was the quintessential Gramicci item. With a baggy cut and Gramicci’s trademark gusseted crotch, these shorts functioned just as well for catching rays on a Californian beach, as they were for hanging off Yosemite’s granite walls.
In 2022 Gramicci paid homage to this iconic item through the release of their O.G. Series, which saw the re-introduction of plaid thighwear in three new styles…
O.G. Yarn Dye Shadow Plaid Jam Short
O.G. Micro Plaid Seersucker G-Short
O.G. Yarn Dye Dobby Plaid Jam Short
Personally, we think Gramicci perfectly executed the reintroduction of this classic style to their roster, seamlessly incorporating that nostalgic Californian feel into three very wearable pairs of shorts.
Prepare Yourself Logo
Gramicci is a brand that has had many different taglines in its existence, with ‘Freedom of Movement‘ ‘Go for the Gusset‘ & ‘Prepare Yourself‘ being the three most notable ones.
The ‘Prepare Yourself’ tagline was first introduced in the ’90s and featured predominantly on the tags of Gramicci products.
Recently, the brand has referenced the tagline on a handful of graphic products.
Prepare Yourself Sweatshirt
Prepare Yourself T-shirt
These products serve as an excellent way of subtly reintroducing a piece of the brand’s heritage, and what’s more, you probably would never even know – the logo is timeless.
Flannel Shirts
Right up there in popularity with the iconic plaid shorts, Gramicci’s flannel shirts were an item favoured by climbers, surfers and generally chilled-out fellows in the ’90s.
Loose-fitting, breezy, button-up cotton ensured ideal temperature regulation for those climbing in the Californian heat, and the rich flannel detailing meant they looked good doing it.
Gramicci has never turned its back on button-up shirting, but they’ve recently introduced a handful of styles that are more reminiscent of the classic & older models than they typically have been.
Checkered Stance Shirt
Camp Shirt
These are two very nice examples of Gramicci referencing their button-up heritage, although we’ve got to admit, we wouldn’t mind seeing a few more of the classic flannel button-ups being added to the brand’s line-up in 2025.
Pigment Dyed T-shirts
A pigment-dyed piece of cotton may well just be the most ’90s garment there is, and Gramicci were certainly no strangers to this process at the time.
Dyeing garments after they’re sewn provides them with a vintage look, introducing rich, unique hues that enhance over time, giving a unique patina to every garment.
Gramicci’s dedication to this process demonstrates how the brand has always perfectly balanced form and function, with equal emphasis on creating garments that look good, and garments that are a joy to wear.
The brand recently reintroduced pigment dyeing into its design process with a large number of items, ranging from shorts to t-shirts, having used the procedure as part of a Pigment Dye Collection.
Of the collection, these two washes are our picks of the bunch.
We’re big fans of pigment & garment dyeing because it encourages the thrashing of your clothes – the more you wear them, the better they’ll look, and maybe one day they’ll look as good as the vintage one above.
Patterned Shirts
If Gramicci weren’t covering their items in flannel, plaid or pigment dye in the ’90s, they were adorning them with some crazy, often Navajo-esque pattern.
Some may argue that these items haven’t aged quite as well as others, and there probably is a case for that, but you can’t deny the unadulterated ’90s nostalgia they invoke.
These days, Gramicci isn’t using patterns anywhere near as gaudy as the ones from the ’90s, but they still provide subtle nods to this part of their brand’s heritage in a select few items each season.
Ralston Flannel Shirt
Brushed Nylon Shirt
Maybe we’re going to have to take back what we said about them not using anywhere near as gaudy patterns as they did in the ’90s – both of these are pretty loud.
Corduroy Shirts
The final fabric that Gramicci has long had a love affair with also happens to be one of our favourites – corduroy.
Hardwearing and reliable, corduroy was a fabric that was favoured by climbers of the ’70s and Gramicci has frequently paid their respects to the legendary fabric by incorporating it into a variety of silhouettes.
In the ’90s, this usually took the form of corduroy shirting, although a few examples can be found of them working it into their signature G-Pants & G-Shorts.
Although maybe not a direct reference, Gramicci is offering a corduroy jacket very similar in construction to the above shirt at the moment….
Corduroy Trucker Jacket
So, there you have it, hopefully, we’ve more than adequately proved our point that Gramicci is a brand that holds its DNA in high regard. The styles, patterns and fabrics that made the brand such a hit in the ’90s are still responsible for the brands popularity today.
Just to finish off quickly, we’re going to include some vintage styles that we’d like to see Gramicci reference in their future collections.
