It’s interesting that the person Mountain Equipment Co-op has chosen to tell its new style story is not a fashion designer but a product developer. The difference, according to MEC’s new senior director of product design, is that “the product developer is the engineer to the fashion designer’s architect. The designer has the vision, but we take the 2-D to 3-D—executing that vision and making it meet requirements like cost, margins, functionality and quality.”
The message: MEC’s utilitarian clothing may be on trend right now (when “it” brand Balenciaga does puffer jackets, the fashion world takes notice) but, at heart, it will always prioritize practicality.
Youds started her career almost 24 years ago in the United Kingdom. at iconic boot-maker Dr. Martens. “It was a tight, concise collection with heritage and history, and I was fortunate that I was able to work with every aspect of the brand,” she said. “It was the 1990s and everyone was wearing Docs—even the Pope! He had red boots and his team had white ones.”
After stints with other large brands in the U.K., Hong Kong and South Africa, Youds relocated to Vancouver to work with Lululemon, arriving in 2012 when “things were really exploding. It taught me a lot. It was mass market in that it was global, but the design ethos was tight, with clear rules in place.”
She moved to MEC earlier this year, attracted by its problem-solving approach. “It’s about functional and durable products, and that’s the essence of the brand,” she explained. “We make products that solve problems before our members even know they exist. Everything is field-tested and researched in the same environments as it’s designed for. Ultimately, what we’re making are products that create no distraction.”
Part of Youds’ remit is to develop MEC’s own visual identity, though she says it’s not about it becoming trendy—functional being fashionable is just a happy accident. “It’s not going to be fashion, but it’s going to be created in a way that makes people look good because of the fit and design lines,” she emphasized, adding, “The ‘looking’ piece is huge—how it flatters and how it moves.”
She’s not allowed to share much about the direction she’s taking, which won’t be fully rolled out til spring 2019, but gives the impression that it won’t be a large and overwhelming collection. “Every item is going to be thoughtfully considered and will have a clear place in the collection,” she revealed. “Think of less-is-more philosophies.”
In the meantime, what kind of pieces can people choose from the existing lineup if they want to rock the utilitarian look? “We’ve got some fantastic travel pieces like the Timeless Pant, easy pull-on lightweight pants for leisure, to and from the gym and to the office, rolled up and put in a travel bag,” said Youds. “Through fall and winter we consider a lot of how we build products as systems, from base to outerwear. Our base layers are super-versatile as layering pieces. And then there are our back-country pieces: insulated items that take you up the mountain and keep you safe from a temperature point of view, but also work in the city.”
And will the brand be changing its direction each season like runway and high-street fashion brands? Absolutely not.
“The demands of people have shifted and people are expecting more from their product—more diverse, transformable, wearable, packable,” she said. “It’s a different ethos to a few years ago where it was OK to buy commodity products and throw them away. That fast-fashion trend is changing and moving into a new sustainability model. We already hold that as part of our foundation.” —Aileen Lalor
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