We’re proud to present our latest collection designed by Japan’s F/CE. From full-on winter outerwear to seriously useful travel packs, this is a collection of modern, technical gear built for life on the move.
For a bit of background, F/CE started out under the name Ficouture back in 2010. Founded by Satoshi and Asami Yamane, the brand originally focussed solely on bags—making backpacks and travel bags crammed with handy features and cunning details.
As keen travellers themselves, their creations were heavily informed by the places they’d been—with each collection inspired by a different country. This might just sound like mere mood-board fodder—but beyond just aesthetics the bags were influenced by these travels in a practical sense too—and with every trip they were honed and refined to be more useful for life on the road (or in the airport).
By 2016, Ficouture became F/CE—the new moniker highlighting the three core ingredients behind the brand… functionality, culture and exploration. That year they also branched out into making clothes, applying their knowledge of technical fabrics and appreciation of the finer details to jackets and legwear.
Since then they’ve become one of the guiding lights of forward-thinking Japanese outdoor clothing—renowned for their dedication to detail, whether they’re working on their own line or collaborating with legendary names like Danner and Nanga. As if they weren’t busy enough, they also run their own shop, Root General Store—stocking some of the finest outdoor and camping brands—and between all this Satoshi somehow manages to find time to play bass in the cult post-rock band Toe.
So that covers who F/CE are—now here’s what they’ve done with us for FW23. Perhaps the standout piece is the Military Padding Blouson—a cold-weather parka made from a particularly special tightly woven polyester fabric. Sort of like a modern version of the Ventile cotton worn by Everest explorers in the middle of the 20th century—it’s a tough spun fabric with a natural handle to it that feels just right.
We also used this unique fabric on the Long Track Pants. These take our signature climbing pants design and combine them with F/CE’s love of modern materials to create the ideal winter-ready trousers—coated with an environmentally-friendly water-repellent finish to keep the rain off.
Another key fabric is what’s known as ATR yarn—an air textured nylon yarn which has been used on both the fully-equipped Mountain Jacket and the aptly-titled Technical Cargo Wide Pants. This stuff was treated with cold air jets before being woven to give it an irregular feel which is hard to do justice to with photographs. Again, this has been given that water-repellent finish for when the clouds open.
This all-weather attitude was extended to the bags too. As you’d expect from a brand famous for their packs, F/CE pulled out all the stops—with the Shoulder Mini Bowling Bag, the Technical Travel Bag and the 2 Way Drawstring Bag all made from a seriously hard-wearing 500D Cordura, with waterproof zips keeping your valuables safe and dry.
The Bowling Bag is particularly interesting—a new take on one of F/CE’s signature products, it’s a lightweight hip pack which was, as you’ve maybe guessed from the name, was initially created for lugging around bowling balls. That said, it’s for far more than just trips to your local ten pin alley—and it’s just the right size for carrying an afternoon’s provisions. Whether you’re riding your bike into town or trekking off on your next adventure, these packs will come in very handy indeed.
There’s a Boa Cap too—for when the temperature drops. If it’s clever, functional winter gear you’re after, you’re in the right place.
