Gorpcore grew up: why trail runners are everywhere this autumn

Look down at the next crowded pavement you cross and count the trail runners. Not trainers styled to look chunky, actual trail shoes, the kind with lugged soles and mesh built for mud, worn with jeans and tote bags nowhere near a trailhead. That’s the trend. It has a slightly silly name, it has been building for years, and this season it finally stopped shouting.

What the trend actually is

The style is usually called gorpcore, short for GORP, the trail-mix acronym for Good Ol’ Raisins and Peanuts. It describes wearing proper outdoor gear, shells, fleeces, cargo trousers, trail shoes, as regular city clothes rather than kit for an actual hike. The term has been around since roughly 2017, but what’s happening now is a second, quieter act.

Outdoor brands and style writers are calling this phase “quiet outdoors”: the trend where functional outdoor gear like hiking boots, fleece, and Gore-Tex jackets is worn as everyday street style, evolved into focusing on high-quality, muted technical trainers that work as well in the office as they do on a muddy trail. Think fewer neon zips and reflective panels, more stone, cream and gridiron grey. The gear still works. It just doesn’t look like it’s auditioning for a ski advert.

Where it’s showing up right now

Nike’s ACG line, its All Conditions Gear division, relaunched the Pegasus Trail as a proper trail runner rather than a road-shoe spin-off, and the newest version adds a waterproof build. The Pegasus Trail has existed as a trail-ready variant on Nike’s road running franchise for years, but as part of Nike ACG’s comeback, the versatile sneaker was folded into ACG’s lineup of specialized all-terrain footwear, with the latest update, thanks to new Gore-Tex waterproof fabric, more capable than ever. It comes in colourways with names like Gridiron, Cream II and Racer Blue, muted rather than loud, and retails for $175 at Nike.

adidas has gone the opposite direction with a trend-worn classic: the Samba. Its newest version zips up like a little jacket rather than lacing. The adidas Samba sneaker slips into the perfect fall outfit, a zippered suede look with outdoorsy charm, featuring zip-up suede uppers. adidas’ newest Samba possesses a similar rugged feel, featuring rubber mudguards that help protect the shoe and make it more durable, also giving it a more outdoorsy feel. It’s currently available in many colourways on adidas Japan’s website for ¥17,600, or $111. That’s a football boot borrowing from hiking boots, which tells you how far the aesthetic has travelled.

It’s not just footwear. Outerwear label KOLON SPORT has teamed up with designer JiyongKim again on a collection that treats down and fleece like sculpture, with drawstrings and detachable pieces so one jacket can change shape for different weather. Vans Snowboarding is dropping a new signature boot with professional snowboarder Ryo Aizawa this month too, proof that technical gear built for an actual mountain is getting fashion attention, not just the stuff that’s always been street-friendly.

None of this is confined to niche outdoor labels either. Search interest in the specific phrase “gorpcore style outfit” sat near zero for most of last year before climbing again this spring, and outdoor brands most associated with the look have kept reporting strong sales growth, a sign this isn’t a one-season spike.

Five easy ways to try it

You don’t need a hardshell jacket and a compass. The whole point of the current version is that it slots into clothes you probably already own.

Occasion	Key piece	Budget version	Secondhand route
Commute or college run	Trail running shoe with straight-leg jeans	A basic running shoe from a sports chain in a muted colourway	Search “trail runner” or a brand name like Salomon or Merrell on Vinted or Depop
Wet weather errands	Lightweight waterproof shell	A simple rain jacket from a high street shop	Charity shops are full of old Patagonia, North Face and Berghaus shells; check the zips work
Weekend layering	Fleece pullover, worn open over a tee	A supermarket or basics-range fleece	Vintage fleeces turn up constantly at car boot sales and in charity shop menswear rails
Dressing up trainers	Suede or zip-detail low-top sneaker	Any suede trainer from a mainstream shoe shop	Look for scuffed suede trainers secondhand; a cobbler can clean and re-nap suede cheaply
Cold snaps	Technical vest or lightly padded gilet	A basic gilet from a high street coat section	Secondhand gilets and puffer vests are everywhere on resale apps, often from past-season outdoor ranges

A quick note on buying secondhand here specifically: this is one of the categories where it genuinely pays to look. New technical outdoor pieces are climbing past $500 to $800 at full retail, making secondhand alternatives more attractive than ever to price-conscious buyers, and that is widening the gap for anyone shopping resale. Old outdoor gear was built to survive actual mountains, so a ten-year-old fleece or shell usually still works exactly as well as a new one.

How to wear it without looking like you’re about to summit something

The trick the current version gets right is restraint. One technical piece, styled against something soft or tailored, reads as considered rather than costume. A trail runner under wide trousers. A fleece zipped halfway over a plain shirt. A shell jacket thrown over a knit instead of over more technical layers. Two or three outdoor pieces worn together, all at once, is where it tips into fancy dress.

Colour does a lot of the work too. The muted palette on Nike’s new ACG colourways, stone, grey, cream, over the old era’s safety orange and acid green, is exactly why this feels wearable for an ordinary Tuesday rather than a gear expo.

Will it last?

Probably longer than most trends, honestly. Gorpcore has been building for three years and shows no signs of slowing, having gone from a niche aesthetic on fashion forums to fully mainstream. That’s not typical trend-cycle behaviour. A look that’s been around that long and keeps getting reinterpreted, loud and neon a few years ago, quiet and tonal now, tends to be settling into a genre rather than a fad.

There’s also a practical reason it sticks: the clothes are made to survive actual weather and actual wear, which matters if you’re building a wardrobe to last rather than replacing it every season. A decent waterproof shell or a pair of grippy trail shoes earns its keep on a rainy walk to the bus stop just as well as it would on an actual trail. That’s a useful trend to have around, whether or not it stays fashionable.