In December 2020, Gucci turned heads with their very wholesome, ultra-outdoorsy drop. A collaboration with puffer-jacket legends North Face, the pair released a series of items that combine 70s flower power motifs with rugged outdoorsy designs. Ready for cutting down trees or cutting through the globe's fashion capitals, it's a signal of camping's new role in the fashion consciousness.

Elsewhere at around the same time, a Japanese designer Nigo’s A BATHING APE (BAPE) released their very own BAPE®'s 1ST CAMO, a collaboration with HELINOX; the release was a selection of outdoor equipment, including a tent, chair and outdoor covering. In June of the same year, Louis Vuitton took the concept of their iconic LV designed travel trunk monogram and adorned it on a water-resistant tent.

Louis Vuitton's new Monogram camping tent (PHOTO: NSS Mag)

It's clear that the great outdoors are making a splash within the luxury world, also seen in the recent trends with outdoor festivals encompassing art, fashion and music, with leading inspirations including Coachella, Tomorrowland, and our own FUJI ROCK. It would be a fair guess to say that with our current state of travel, the preference for open spaces and perhaps embracing the opportunity to explore our own backyards will continue to be in high demand.

Glamping's next level...

Here in Japan, there's one brand that's embracing, running with and dare we say, reinventing the camping experience, and that's Snow Peak. Born in 1958, Snow Peak has been crafting meticulously-made Japanese-designed, lifetime-guaranteed outdoor products, from clothing to tents to tools. While the brand has shifted and changed over the years, its core mission has remained the same: to create restorative experiences in nature through legacy-grade gear and apparel.

In recent times, the brand has gone from just creating products to creating experiences. They've been collaborating with world-class architects like Kengo Kuma and launching pop-up outdoors experiences, showcasing some of the best parts of Japan.

PHOTOS: Snow Peak FIELD SUITE HAKUBA KITAONE KOGEN

From luxury trailers in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, to glamping hybrid setups in Tokyo, scenic campsites at Ashizuri National Park in Shikoku, and stripped back but still completely comfortable setups at their Snow Peak HEADQUARTERS Campfield in Niigata, their range of choices shows the brand’s attentiveness and reactive nature to the changing lifestyle and needs of the people.

PHOTOS: Snow Peak glamping ​TOKUSHIMA KOMATSUSHIMA​ (within Komatsushima Resort)

Snow Peak's presence and innovation in the experience and glamping field is a fascinating study of what camping culture means for Japanese leisure seekers. Those who have had the pleasure of camping in Japan will probably know that it's worlds away from the rough and ready, dirt-smeared camping scene. Style, organization, preparedness, comfort and accessibility (in this order) are founding principles of leisure camping in Japan. Whether it's a cultural appreciation for these qualities embedded since childhood or something different, what we can say is that camping in Japan is a pleasure that should be enjoyed by all at least once.