It all began with a promised reunion.
Nigel Cabourn, the designer of his eponymous brand, and Kinji Teramoto, representative of 35SUMMERS and holder of the Rocky Mountain Featherbed brand, had long discussed the idea of collaborating on a project. They reunited after several years in Hong Kong, where they had come to celebrate a mutual friend's event. This meeting sparked the initiation of this collaboration project.
Rocky Mountain Featherbed was originally founded in the 1960’s in the valley of Jackson Hole, Wyoming USA, an area positioned as a gateway to the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Surrounded by the rugged beauty of vast mountain ranges, this area was first settled by indigenous tribes who would make their annual migration to hunt in this wildlife-rich area. Fur trappers and homesteaders began to settle in the late 1800’s, and it was then that Wyoming became known as “the cowboy state”. Now known as a haven for adventurous spirits searching for the legendary vistas of wild America, it is from this enthralling wilderness that the idea for Rocky Mountain was born.
Making a modern interpretation of classic western cowboy garments, Rocky Mountain drew their inspiration from the traditional leather yokes worn by Native Americans and thus created their now iconic down vest with its seamless one-piece leather yoke. Their down-filled outerwear became popular with ranchers across the American West and has since become synonymous with Americana of the era.
Trailblazers of innovation, the company adopted modern materials like nylon and the cutting-edge GORE-TEX, earning them international recognition for expertise in manufacturing. Unfortunately by the late 1980’s, Rocky Mountain had ceased trading and it was thought that was the end of the once sought after brand.
This was until 2005. Kinji Teramoto, the company representative for Japanese manufacturer 35SUMMERS, had a life-long interest in the Rocky Mountain brand, and had been avidly collecting vintage pieces and researching the fabrics and details of the originals for many years. His company 35SUMMERS acquired the trademark for the brand and began Rocky Mountain’s successful revival. Now produced in Japan, these iconic garments and have been recreated and produced to the same uncompromising standards as the 1960’s.
With a wealth of archival inspiration to draw from, this collaboration began with Teramoto's collection of over 200 vintage Rocky Mountain Featherbed pieces. Nigel picked out archive items that caught his interest and consulted his own vast collection of over 4,000 vintage garments, reinterpreting these iconic Rocky Mountain pieces in his signature style. Teramoto's expertise as an archivist is woven throughout the designs, resulting in a meticulously crafted capsule collection that is faithful to the core of each brand. The collaboration marks the 50th anniversary of Rocky Mountain Featherbed and celebrates the 100th anniversary of British mountaineer George Mallory’s ascent of Everest—a milestone both brands have long admired. This future archive collection created by these world-renowned vintage collectors is a must-see.