Vollebak's future-proof clothing is made for your next adventure – Rob Reports

Menswear leans toward science, with its reverence for archives and the constant buzz around heritage and tradition. Which explains the shock of discovering a brand as relentlessly future-focused as Vollebak: You stare at the shiny metallic outerwear and color-shifting jackets and wonder if this is what ayahuasca guys in Silicon Valley wear on a motorcycle to camp in the desert on your commute home. . Search herringbone deadstock.

“We think about clothing in the same way René Redzepi thinks about food or Bjarke Ingels thinks about architecture,” says Nick Tidball, co-founder of Fullback with his twin brother Steve, describing the experimental approach to clothing that protects the future from climate change and resource scarcity. and the expected physical and psychological needs of interplanetary travel.

The presentation, like the brand's branding and marketing, is almost suspiciously cool (it helps to know that the brothers previously enjoyed a successful career as a creative duo in London advertising) until you realize that the clothes actually fit their hyperbolic billing: a fire-resistant apocalypse jacket to 2,370°F, includes 23 pockets, and can be converted into a sleeping bag, while the full metal jacket is largely composed of antimicrobial copper, known to kill bacteria and viruses. Later that evening, Engels came to dinner and turned out to be an enthusiastic collaborator. “These guys think about clothes the same way I think about design,” he says.

However, despite the sci-fi ideas and bold names, the equipment itself is highly wearable, and relatively simple even when highly technical. Across product lines that include Indestructible, 100 Year, Equator and Waterfallproof, the aesthetic veers from snow-chic natural fibers to algae-dyed natural fibers to futuristic products with a retro, adventurous take – think Ker & Downey by Sand dunes. Our favorite: the Mars 3D Insulated Hoodie (pictured, $795), made by a machine designed to build bedding. The result is a sculpted, ultra-soft sweatshirt with the heft and density of a worry blanket (it weighs over two and a half pounds) and the superior comfort of a memory foam mattress. Fullback calls it “relaxation gear for Mars,” but we love its utility in orbits a little closer to home: as the perfect vest for air travel.