Outerwear Inspired by Architecture: The Arrivals
Timeless silhouettes meet modern functionality and styling at a more accessible price
Finding the right jacket is often a game of compromises. Forgo quality to save on the price. Opt for fashion, but desperately miss out on function. Most vexing though, in the search for the optimal outerwear, is nailing the perfect fit. A trendy cut will likely not see the turn of another fall. Today, 16 October 2014, marks the launch of a new line of men’s and women’s outerwear that promises to address these age-old concerns. One glance at the lookbook of NYC-based The Arrivals suggests the brand is making moves towards optimal outerwear. With a focus on fit, detail, construction and functionality, the brand is effortlessly blending the timeless with the modern and the fashionable with utility-driven function.
“We started The Arrivals to change the way outerwear is designed, developed and experienced,” says co-founder and respected entrepreneur Kal Vepuri. “We couldn’t find products that offered sophisticated design, fit and quality at an attainable price point, so we decided to create The Arrivals to solve that problem.” Vepuri is no novice when it comes to the consumer marketplace. The entrepreneur has played a key investment role in industry leaders such as Warby Parker, Reformation and Artsy just to name a few.
One of the core themes in the line is drawing on familiar silhouettes and styles, then reinterpret them with updated features that lend to the piece’s functionality. For instance, the brand’s leather jacket plays off the classic Schott Perfecto shape, but with a modular construction utilizing wool panels for closer-to-body fit without sacrificing mobility. The colors across the line are muted—mostly tonal blacks are rounded out by deep olive, marled grey and an indigo denim. Indeed, nearly all of the non-black in the line is born out of a material rather than an aesthetic choice by the designer, co-founder Jeff Johnson.
We love pushing the limits of our abilities to create beautiful products paired with unique and engaging experiences.
After working as an architect for six years, Johnson brought his purpose-driven, form-centric design sensibilities to the world of fashion. “We love pushing the limits of our abilities to create beautiful products paired with unique and engaging experiences using skills that pull from many fields of study and practice,” Vepuri says of the company’s design language. Minimalist at heart, there is a strong architectural if not industrial influence throughout the collection, capitalizing on the duality of strength and beauty.
For the most part, such considered design in fashion with an insistence on quality materials and production results in a price to match. Like many of their peers, The Arrivals have adopted a direct-to-consumer model aimed at ultimately reducing what Vepuri refers to as “typical fashion industry mark-ups.” As a result, the high-end collection sees pieces starting at $185 and $245 on the women’s and men’s side respectively.
Explore the full The Arrivals collection, available today 16 October 2014, on their webstore.
Images courtesy of The Arrivals
