Parajumpers Celebrates 20th Anniversary With 20 Artistic Collaborations

by · WWD
Inside Parajumpers 20th anniversary exhibit with archival piecesCourtesy of Parajumpers

Outerwear specialist Parajumpers hit Milan Fashion Week to mark its 20th anniversary, with a project centered around its signature Gobi jacket.

Operated by Ape SpA, the label, which borrows its name from the U.S. Army’s 210th Rescue Squadron, was established in 2006.

About 20 creatives were conscripted to reinterpret the hero style through a contemporary art or avant-garde designer perspective, scouted by the Parajumpers team among former and current collaborators, such as illustration artist Joe Whale and designers Gionata Malagodi and Yoshinori Ono, and up-and-coming talents including artist Chul-Yong Choi from South Korea and composer Romain Azzaro.

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The vast industrial venue that is home to the exhibition welcomed guests to a selection of archival pieces, flattened inside paper-thin glass cases, before awing visitors with the adjacent room where the new experimental designs were lined up in a walk-in scaffolding-like structure.

Italian artist Giacomo Bevanati created an armor-like rendition of the Gobi jacket hand-curling metal wires, while the American Helena Elston, who specializes in textile and biomaterial art, applied mycelium to a cotton version of the item, which created unexpected patterns.

One piece was interactive, as British music producer Leigh Davies worked cardboard into a sound-producing Gobi activated by touch, while the Peruvian collective Trapos Finos led by Yulissa Aranibar sourced textile waste and random objects in their home country to develop an upcycled jacket.

Leigh Davies interpretation of the Parajumpers’ Gobi jacket.Courtesy of Parajumpers

Other creatives involved included the Italian Alessandro Gomiero; sculptor Cosma Frascina; digital design studios FabLab Venezia and Territorio Tipo; French photographer Frédéric Lagrange; designers Armando Carastro and Isaac Sellam; artist and Pabaja; set design collective Megabottega; textile artist Rhiannon Griego, and social design studio Talking Hands.

The exhibition — which is open to the public until Friday — is to be taken on the road in a rebooted format, aligned with each location. Currently planned stops include Germany, South Korea and France, three of the brand’s strongest markets.

Inside Parajumpers 20th anniversary exhibit with artistic renditions of its Gobi jacket.Courtesy of Parajumpers

Parajumpers is not a fashion week regular but had already joined the calendar in 2020 to unveil another artistic collaboration with Felice Limosani.