GORE-TEX is a brand that should need little introduction. As far as waterproof fabrics go, it's widely considered the gold standard. Its innovative design, which allows water vapour to escape while blocking water droplets from coming in, has seen it adopted by every outdoor brand worth mentioning, while its unique texture and cultural cachet have inspired countless designers from the world of fashion too.
Very few brands have battled their way to the top of every 8,000-metre peak and also visited all the world's major fashion weeks, but GORE-TEX is one of them... and it has the archive to prove it.
The Lattice Works was created to celebrate 50 years of the outdoor industry's most beloved microporous membrane. A two-day exhibition in Soho, London, it brought together a curated collection of rare archive pieces from throughout GORE-TEX's history. We're talking original pieces from historic expeditions, iconic brand collaborations and some of the first GORE-TEX products ever made.
A quick history lesson
This stuff wasn’t created with fashion in mind. Developed in the late 1960s and commercialised the following decade, its waterproof-breathable membrane was intended to solve a practical problem: keeping rain out without trapping too much moisture inside.
By the 1980s and 1990s, GORE-TEX had become synonymous with serious outdoor clothing. Brands such as Berghaus, The North Face and later Arc’teryx used it for technical shells, complete with taped seams, storm hoods and toggles galore.
Then, as tends to happen in menswear, specialist clothing escaped its original context. Technical outerwear filtered into streetwear and terrace culture during the 1990s, while Japanese brands later helped recast performance fabrics as something that could work in everyday wardrobes.
By the 2010s, fashion’s obsession with functional clothing was in full swing. Gorpcore brought Arc’teryx shells, Salomon trail shoes and Patagonia fleeces into cities, while collaborations involving GORE-TEX became increasingly commonplace.
Today, the fabric occupies an unusual position between equipment and fashion. Its little black diamond still signifies genuine technical performance, but it also carries cultural weight. A GORE-TEX jacket suggests preparedness, utility and a certain level of outdoor knowledge – even if the most hostile environment it encounters is a wet commute.
