For decades, it’s been rock climbing and mountaineering that have lead innovation in outdoor apparel. The first clothing items that Yvon Chouinard created and that led to the founding of Patagonia were rugby shirts and durable shorts for rock climbing in Yosemite, the Shawangunks and beyond. He and many others who followed adapted everyday clothing to scaling rock walls, but today a small Quebec-based brand called Foehn is doing the opposite, injecting technical outdoor apparel with a keen sense of style. Foehn’s first product was a pair of pants we love called the Brise, and recently it launched a pair of shorts based on that same design.
Everything that makes the Brise Pant succeed at the crag aids it on city streets: they’re stretchy and articulating, which makes them comfortable; they’re durable and weather resistant, which makes them practical. But it’s style that bridges the gap between these disparate environments — even the thigh pocket that allows for access while wearing a harness comes off as a unique element that makes its case for existence based on aesthetics alone.
These same traits are true of Foehn’s new Brise Short, too. It features four-way stretch, a comfortable waistband, that taped thigh pocket and, thanks to the small details — laser-cut, bonded hems and a attractive cord zipper pull, to name a couple — it looks great, whether it’s clouded with climbing chalk, or not.
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