The appeal of the unknown in the new ROA collection

The collection, composed of eight pieces – a compact windbreaker jacket, a heavy long-sleeved sweater, a plaid watch skirt, a versatile Dryarn® balaclava, high socks, an upcycled blanket dyed from military surplus, a rugged dry bag, and the iconic Andreas boots decorated with antiqued silver medallions – embodies the mystery, rawness and eerie landscape of a mountainous area at nightfall.

Black, as the predominant color in the collection, evokes the beauty behind the mountainous landscapes after dark. The eerie darkness of night reflects the calm but also the latent danger of nature, challenging us to accept the unknown and mysterious aspects of nature and its course.

The attraction to the unknown and exoticism of landscapes has always been present in Western culture since the age of Romanticism. Whether it is the depths of the deep forest, the untamed wilderness or the great deserts, they have awakened in us feelings of awe and humility, reminding us of our limited position in an immense universe that follows its course independently of our existence. Romantic and transcendentalist thinkers, such as Henry David Thoreau, considered that nature, in addition to reflecting the inner journey, also revealed human smallness in the face of its vastness. In ‘Walden, Thoreau explores the contemplative power of the woods, suggesting that the scale and eternity of nature elicit existential introspection and a heightened awareness of the transience of life. Wild landscapes challenge us, almost as if inviting us to reflect on our solitude and to confront an inevitable sense of danger, and even doom, latent beneath nature’s quiet façade.

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ROA’s Nightfall capsule collection deeply explores this interplay between exploration and introspection, inviting wearers to reconnect with a sense of solitude, self-sufficiency and resilience in the face of the unknown. And at the same time it embodies ROA’s philosophy: to create garments that connect performance and spontaneity, perfectly suited to both the practical needs of adventurers and their instinctive, unstructured impulses.

ROA’s Nightfall collection is available exclusively on roa-hiking.com & slamjam.com. 

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