You know that tarp bag you hope to find in your parents’ garage, wedged somewhere between the spare tent poles and an old gas canister. Excellent nostalgic branding, the sort of vivid colours they simply don’t make anymore. Inside, a heap of clothes with raw hems, chewed-up necklines and graphics that look like the result of a particularly soulful acid trip. For a vintage enthusiast, it’s a goldmine.
This is what Sam at Big Rock makes, nostalgic magic, backed up by serious quality and genuine attention to detail. More importantly, when you meet Sam, you realise the Big Rock world is very real. This isn’t a brand wearing vintage outdoor nostalgia as a costume, you can feel the bones of a community that is genuinely, wholeheartedly obsessed with it. It’s the kind of place you want to get lost in for a while.
Big Rock runs parallel to the current outdoor movement, but deliberately sidesteps the pursuit of technical perfection. Instead, it feels more like the 70s climber who earned his nonchalance by doing this before there was a piece of £400 equipment for every conceivable problem. He doesn’t hate the technical stuff, he just doesn’t need it. And wearing that perspective convincingly is an art form in itself.
This season, Sam continues his study of vintage outdoor clothing, digging through old catalogues, climbing photographs, books and the people who shaped the early outdoor industry. As he puts it: “It was a period when climbers and mountaineers often became product designers out of necessity, creating equipment and clothing to solve problems before the modern outdoor industry really existed.”
That spirit remains at the heart of Big Rock today. The brand creates vintage-inspired outdoor clothing designed to work just as comfortably on the trail as it does away from it. We’re stoked to bring you our biggest Big Rock collection yet this season.