What is considered a common sportswear good, adopted in the outdoors by any skiers, hikers, and trail runners, and commercialized by numberless techwear brands for daily uses during the cold season, balaclava is a functional-yet-lifestyle item that brings itself a long tradition in countercultural movements, elevated at something more than simple headwear. Read more…
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Historically the name under this warm-head accessory can be traced back to the 1854 Crimean War, dubbed Battle of Balaclava, named after a town in the premisses of the war field. Despite the military origin, the balaclava assumed a countercultural connotation, being worn as a beanie till the moment of performing unlawful behaviors, becoming a symbolic item in bank robbery and kidnapping, a crime movies’ icon. This knitted hat's outlaw connotation can be easily reconnected to illegal activities because it can be worn as a mask when fully folded down on your face. The necessity of covering the face and acting in disguise arose among revolutionary collectives, to let them act in political manifestations and riots. Balaclava became an emblem of countercultural and liberation movements. In 1994, balaclava was the iconic headgear worn by Zapatistas, the indigenous activists fighting against Mexican repression, promoting democracy. As a hyper-contemporary visual statement, it’s adopted by the Russian band and performative art collective Pussy Riots, who wear multi-color balaclava in their feminist fights and for LGBTQIA+ rights in Russia reaching a global echo. Alongside the political meaning of this head warmer, balaclava is an unmissable item for any outdoor activities, and its popularity has been spread in the gorpcore scenario from the mountain peaks to the urban landscape, and it's a fundamental accessory of the trap and drill’s imageries. Seasonal product for many brands, someone produced it in waterproof fabrics, someone else in wool, for some it’s just an alternative to the well-known Carhartt Acrylic Watch Hat.