Technical gear – clothes that can scale mountains and withstand the worst of nature – hold a special significance in Japan. Spend any time in neighbourhoods such as Kōenji, famous for their vintage shopping, and you’ll be inundated with stores peddling rare American military parkas, 1990s fleeces and colourful deadstock jackets in water-resistant fabrics.

Inspired by the sort of clothes that can handle an Arctic adventure, along with vintage outdoor catalogues and a 2022 exhibition held by the designer NIGO, Shigeru Kaneko, the chief buyer for BEAMS PLUS, was determined to put on his own showcase, working with the Outdoor Recreation Archive at Utah State University, named Expedition Club, which is being held at London’s Westminster Menswear Archive.

“I hoped to offer a unique perspective on classic outdoor wear – one that goes beyond just the design and look and delves into the mood and era of the pieces,” says Kaneko. “I wanted people to appreciate the items from a different angle.

“Since the pandemic, I’ve gone to vintage stores less often, and with the rising cost of vintage clothing, special vintage pieces are no longer accessible to everyone. Today, you can easily find images of these valuable garments online, but you may have seen a picture without ever seeing the real thing.”

The exhibition, which runs from 24-26 October, (there is an accompanying Outdoor Expedition book, too) will feature around 50 rare pieces of outerwear, including USAF flight suits designed for elite pilots manning B-70 bombers that could handle temperatures as low as -50c, along with 150 archival outdoor catalogues.

“The hardest part of putting together the Expedition Club exhibition was figuring out the layout for such a large venue in London,” says Kaneko, who has worked with the Westminster Menswear archive, the world’s only publicly accessible space of its kind, which houses thousands of historic garments for inspiration, reference and general appreciation.

While he has a deep admiration for outdoor gear, Kaneko doesn’t have any plans for creating an Everest jacket just yet. “At BEAMS PLUS, our relationship with the outdoors is primarily through fashion,” he says. “We prefer to focus on how to convey the story and mood of classic outdoor wear through the garments themselves and through our styling.

“My biggest connection to the outdoors now is that I live in a wooden cabin. I enjoy nature at home by setting up a tent in the yard and having barbecues.

“Of course, when I do that, I love wearing my vintage down jackets.”