C.P. Company x Barbour’s capsule collection is made for urban exploring

In most cities, the natural world is kept at bay, corralled into manicured parks or reduced to solitary, decorative foliage. It is easy, as a city dweller, to feel disconnected from the landscapes and ecosystems that exist beyond the urban sprawl and, in turn, to crave cathartic contact with squelchy mud, luscious greenery and vast open skies. Never has this been more true than during the successive lockdowns of the past 18 months during which urbanites were involuntarily confined, forced to find portals to nature closer to home.

For chapter seven of their ongoing Cinquante celebrations, C.P. Company is launching a historic collaboration with British outerwear stalwart, Barbour – one that embodies this notion of exploring the urban wilderness. Consisting of two limited edition jackets – both riffing on C.P.’s iconic Mille ​“Goggle” Jacket – along with hoodies and accessories, this joining of forces combines the technical innovation of C.P. Company with Barbour’s indisputable heritage. It also represents something of a full circle moment for the Italian label. Back in the 1980s, Massimo Osti, C.P,’s late founder, actually drew inspiration from Barbour’s hardy wax jackets whilst designing the original Mille.

To celebrate the launch of this capsule collection, THE FACE teamed up with London-based director and photographer Walid Labri to document the porous boundaries between the city’s urban spaces and the natural world. Labri’s film introduces us to three individuals: Jay, a community gardener based in Northeast London; Zaineb, founder of Athene, women’s hiking club; and Ed, an artist making public works using found materials. Each approaches the spirit of urban exploration in a different way, inhabiting wild, overlooked corners between the concrete.

In doing so, all three put their C.P. Company x Barbour pieces to the test. ​“It feels like nature’s always pushed to the edge,” says Ed, as we see him construct a tire sculpture over a hidden Thames tributary, ​“but it should always be its own centre.”