Recently, my colleague Rachelle Schrute at GearJunkie expertly summed up the recent fashionista trends that have adopted outdoor aesthetics—Anglercore, as she called it—in that she rolled her eyes at it so hard, she may have strained a muscle. I, too, share the feelings, as you look out onto the world and see folks who've never hunted, fished, hiked, or even so much as turned a wrench wear fly fishing, hunting, and work-spec gear.
Think how many Carhartt jackets you've seen lately with folks also wearing $1,000 sneakers, or even Alpinestars' work with Balenciaga, and you'll get where I'm coming from. Cool, you like our aesthetic, but how about you start doing the thing instead of just cosplaying?
And yet, here we are, talking about how another major outdoor-themed collaboration is hitting the streets, as Harley-Davidson and hunting powerhouse Realtree have dropped a collection of camouflage gear you can't actually use on your hog. At least, not unless you want to pretend the cold, hard pavement won't see you when you inevitably fall off and shred your skin.
Why didn't they just make actual camo motorcycle gear? As a hunter who rides, that would've at least been somewhat cool.
The capsule collection is called "Get Lost" and, yeah, I get it. You ride a motorcycle to get lost on the open road. And you go hunting to get lost in the woods. And you use camouflage to get lost within the woods so your elk, bear, or deer doesn't see you ala John Cena. But like, it's a bit on the nose, right?
A mentioned earlier, none of the Harley-Davidson x Realtree collaboration is actual motorcycle protective gear. It's just outerwear you'd throw on going to a Deny's or, given the status symbol that Huntercore/Outercore has become, when you're going to an Erewhon. To that end, you can snag some hoodies, a couple different long-sleeves, t-shirts, cargo pants, bags, a folding chair, boots, a folding table, a belt, a purse, and a baseball cap all in Realtree's APG camouflage pattern with a Harley logo slapped onto it.
And don't forget your camouflage tote bag, because as NPR knows, everyone loves a tote.
According to the brands, "Harley-Davidson and Realtree launch Get Lost, a limited-edition apparel collaboration that fuses the raw spirit of the open road with the ruggedness of the outdoors—designed for those who live untamed. Uniting two icons of American grit, H-D® x Realtree® transforms classic styles into gear built for the freedom to blend in when wanted and stand out when one doesn’t." But this all sorta rings hollow, doesn't it? Because you can't actually use the damn gear for anything.
You could possibly use some of this to go hunting, but no self-respecting hunter is gonna walk onto public lands with a Harley-embossed camouflage hoodie to look for an elk or deer. Even in the whitetail woods where you're more than likely sitting in a stand, using a saddle, or in a blind, your huntin' buddies are going to mock you mercilessly for wearing this stuff. No, this whole Outdoorcore trend is for folks who neither ride nor hunt and who'll walk around Brooklynn or DTLA or pick a city, any city, and pose for Instagram or TikTok.
Hell, I even see it in my semi-rural town in Utah where kids are wearing this stuff who I know have never ridden a motorcycle or dirt bike, and absolutely don't fish or hunt. It's all for the 'gram. Is that a winning strategy for Harley, though? I know the brand needs some wins right now, but I'm not sure this is it...
Either way, if you want to pick up some Harley-brand camouflage, you can snag your Harley x Realtree collab gear right now. I wonder what everyone would say if I showed up in all this to Doug Duren's place for his doe derby?
