What is gorpcore? The outdoor gear trend, where it came from and what Arc'teryx and Salomon sales show

Gorpcore is a fashion trend in which people wear outdoor recreation gear, such as shell jackets, fleeces, hiking boots and trail shoes, as everyday clothing, whatever the setting. The word dates to 2017. A run of outdoor brand growth since then turned it from a joke into a real category.

Where the word came from

Know Your Meme and Wikipedia agree on the coinage. Jason Chen, writing for The Cut, New York magazine's fashion site, published "First Came Normcore. Now Get Ready for Gorpcore" on May 25, 2017. The name joins normcore, the deliberately plain look of the mid 2010s, with gorp, a hiker's trail mix. Know Your Meme says gorp stands for "Good Ol' Raisins and Peanuts." Wikipedia notes the acronym is likely a backronym, meaning it was invented after the word.

Chen's article pointed to celebrities such as A$AP Rocky and Drake wearing large jackets and boots as streetwear. Wikipedia says the term was first used ironically for outdoor fashion seen as defiantly ugly, and that the trend became popular in the 2020s, boosted by the pandemic as more people turned to outdoor activities. Know Your Meme traces its TikTok spread to late 2020, with early videos on October 21 of that year.

What counts as gorpcore

The look is built from function, not from a designer's silhouette. Typical pieces named by Wikipedia are puffer jackets, hiking boots, fleeces and cargo pants. The brands it associates with the style include Patagonia, Hoka, Teva, The North Face, REI, Arc'teryx, Columbia and Salomon. Know Your Meme adds Gore-Tex as a technology shorthand.

Crossovers helped. Wikipedia lists The North Face with Gucci, announced in September 2020, and with Supreme, plus Fjällräven with Acne Studios. For the streetwear side of that story see our explainers on what streetwear is and contemporary streetwear brands and who owns them.

The numbers: what Amer Sports reported

One listed company gives the clearest numbers. Amer Sports owns Arc'teryx, Salomon and Wilson. Its second quarter 2026 results, announced August 18, 2026, show:

• Technical Apparel, which includes Arc'teryx: revenue of about $674.2 million, up roughly 32.5% (about 30% at constant currency), with 17% omnichannel comparable growth and an adjusted operating margin of 18.8%.
• Outdoor Performance, which includes Salomon: revenue of about $568.5 million, up roughly 37.4% (about 35% at constant currency), with an adjusted operating margin of 14.6%.
• Group revenue of $1.63 billion, up 32%, according to FashionUnited, and a raised full year guide of about 24% revenue growth.

Chief financial officer Andrew Page said the company's investments are paying off in the quote above. FashionUnited adds that Technical Apparel's direct to consumer sales rose 34% and wholesale 27%, and that Salomon's direct to consumer sales rose 52% with 315 doors in China at quarter end.

The caveats in that growth

First, tariff refunds. The release says margins include a 170 basis point benefit at Technical Apparel and 270 at Outdoor Performance from net tariff refunds. FashionUnited reports a $50.1 million benefit to net profit. Revenue growth is unaffected, but profitability is lower than the headline margin without them. Our piece on US apparel tariffs explains why refunds are in the news.

Second, the release gives segment totals. It does not say how much of that revenue comes from people wearing the products for sport and how much from people wearing them to work. Hiking, skiing and running are real markets. So gorpcore is plausibly part of the growth, not the whole of it, and nobody has published a split.

Third, a company's own results page favors the company. We read Amer Sports' own release, via SEC filing, and the FashionUnited report, but we did not find an independent estimate of the "fashion" share of outdoor sales.

How it spread

Know Your Meme records the early social video trail. An early gorpcore outfit video from the TikTok user @juulian.c is dated October 21, 2020, and Max Paek of One37pm published an introduction to gorpcore on November 26, 2021. Wikipedia adds that in South Korea the style was linked to middle aged men's everyday clothing, citing Korean press in 2026. It also notes some experts date the trend earlier, citing A$AP Rocky and Frank Ocean.

Where the next growth is

The FashionUnited report says Salomon had 315 doors in China at the end of the second quarter, with a long term potential of 400 to 500 and 45 planned net China openings in 2026. That is the company's plan, not a result, but it shows where the sales are expected to come from.

Is it still a trend?

Wikipedia says it was described as dominant in 2023, and the 2026 figures show the businesses behind it still growing at rates most apparel companies would not match. Nine years in, it is better described as a category than a trend.

How to wear it without a costume

Our view, not a reported finding: choose one technical piece and let everything else be plain. A shell over tailored trousers reads as intent; head to toe trail gear reads as a costume. Shoes carry the signal, so a trail runner with ordinary denim does most of the work. Buy for the weather you actually have, because the fabrics are built for conditions most commutes never meet.

Our take

Gorpcore is a real, well sourced style category with a clear origin, and Arc'teryx and Salomon are the strongest evidence that outdoor brands crossed into fashion. It is not proof that everyone dresses like a hiker. Watch Amer Sports' third quarter, guided at 18% to 20% revenue growth, for whether the pace holds once the refunds stop helping. Skip any article that gives a single number for the trend's size.