Junya Watanabe and Mammut Blend Alpine Tech with Urban Style
Japanese designer Junya Watanabe has partnered with Swiss outdoor brand Mammut on a capsule collection of six jackets and one backpack. The pieces merge Mammut's technical alpine expertise with Watanabe's craftsmanship, designed for modern city living. A CGI campaign with a sci-fi narrative accompanies the launch.
The capsule marks another chapter in Watanabe's long history of partnering with heritage technical brands, a pattern that has defined much of his recent output. Mammut, founded in 1862 in a Swiss village, brings over 160 years of mountaineering expertise to the collaboration, while Watanabe's Eye line—launched in 2005—represents his personal perspective on functional menswear.
Berlin creative director Donald Schneider, known for orchestrating the landmark Karl Lagerfeld–H&M partnership in 2004, was tapped to develop the campaign. His agency produced a CGI-driven visual narrative featuring futuristic elevators and observation decks at extreme altitudes, framing the collection within a sci-fi context that echoes the garments' blend of alpine performance and urban adaptability.
This collaboration could broaden Mammut's appeal beyond core outdoor enthusiasts into fashion-conscious urban consumers, potentially expanding its market reach. For Watanabe, such partnerships reinforce his reputation as a bridge between technical function and high fashion. The CGI campaign may also signal a growing trend toward digital-first storytelling in luxury collaborations, influencing how other brands approach product launches and potentially reshaping consumer expectations for immersive, narrative-driven marketing experiences.