Ok, consider this: You’re the lead designer, manager, marketer, and/or idea person at an outerwear brand. You might be at a multinational megacorp that just so happens to sell to snowboarders as a small part of their very large pie, or maybe you’re a niche outfit who aims to appeal solely to snowboarding’s “core.” In either case, you’re in a Zoom meeting with a bunch of “stakeholders” (That’s a thing, right? People who hold stakes of various sizes and types?), and you’re trying to make plans for three seasons out.
Then, the question arises, “How big do we make the pants?”
The Zoom room falls silent. Blank stares. Then, everyone answers at once: “BOOT CUT! HUGE! SKIN-TIGHT! NORMAL AS HELL! CAPRISSSSS!!!”
As a certified old head (41 constitutes the title of old head, surely?) I’ve lived through my fair share of snowboard-world trends. Some of the most extreme ones were in play during my time living and working at the epicenters of snowboard fashion, namely High Cascade Snowboard Camp in Mt. Hood, OR, and in Salt Lake City, UT, circa 2006-2010.
For a while there, pants were both impossibly tight, and impossibly wide (I took this photo btw, no idea where The Catfish Chronicles found it, cause it's not on any hard drive I have, I've looked). Crews were primarily comprised of one persuasion over another, though there was the occasional anomaly within a clan, or rarely, a rider who sampled equally from opposing trends, e.g., skinny-pants with an extra-wide stance, or giant pants paired with a few feathers and dreamcatchers tied on.
Some boarders would end a season as a devotee of one style, with trick, terrain, and spot choice aligned. Yet the following season they’d show up having seemingly “switched sides.” No longer were they looking for log rides, quirky pow spots, and pressable rails. The hunt shifted to parking garages, bungee-able and winchable features, as well as front board sameway-able tubes. What drew people to each was a combination of music preferences, personal background, how much weed they liked to smoke, and not least, the genre of person they were interested in hooking up with at the party after the hill.
Jonah Owen, Chris Bradshaw, Lucas Magoon, Dylan Thompson, Technine, and Finger on da Trigger represented the extremes of massive clothing and hip-hop influence on one side. Laurent Nicholas Paquin, Laura Hadar, Nima Jalali, Jon Kooley, Gus Engle, Team Thunder and the People videos represented the other.
Tune in for the opening skit, stay focused for Jonah Owen's opening part. How's that backside 720? Or was it a bs 800?
The boarding is admittedly a bit more impressive in the FODT offering above, but the hay bales section in this starting at 6:50 is really quite great, even to this day.
The ladies were tightening up their pants too. Laura Hadar's opener in this video has insane slams and legit airs, and Desiree's ender is also chock full of very legit presses.
If we wanna boil it way down, you could say this style war was “gangsters” vs. “hipsters.” That said, there were some agreed upon aesthetics. Going off the above three title cards, black and white hand lettering was one of them. Personally, I was [still am?] a hipster, by the way. I know, big surprise. Never cut out my pant vents or wore feathers, though.
It’s not as simple as all that, of course, but I believe I’m warranted in pointing out that the extremes of snowboard fashion have calmed down considerably since the aforementioned times. And to be fair, mostly for the better, both aesthetically and functionally. But admittedly I miss the peacocking a bit.
Over the past decade or so, most snowboarders have gravitated toward sensible fits, blacks, browns, and other earth tones. Dirty black pants, branded large or xl gray hoodie, a ball cap, maybe goggles or a muted jacket if pow is involved. The whole industry was basically copying 2000s Bryan Fox, is essentially what I’m saying. Again, I'm oversimplifying here.
But the past few years, with Gen-Z’s heavy preoccupation with Y2K-era nostalgia paired with their wonderfully unpredictable and mismatched style choices, we are starting to see a resurgence of trend-setting (or perhaps trend recycling?) in the pants department. For whatever reason, boarders are obsessed with pants—boardshorts in surfing, jeans and chinos in skating, and endless discussion of Nyjah's joggers and shorts.
If you are reading this, it's very likely that at least one or two people at your local have been sporting the "Aladdin" fit in recent years. At the same time, this guy is out here in a fridge doing his best Jon Kooley impression, in 2026.
This isn't really the Aladdin fit I'm talking about, but any excuse to post this is a good one. And I actually back it, it's wonderfully weird and giving "David Byrne goes snowboarding."
Now I don’t want this to devolve into an “old guy yells at sky” piece about not understanding younger generations. I just read a hilarious version of that article in the NY Times the other week, and I’m more than a little indebted to it for sending my brain in this direction. But the overarching question remains, what does the future hold for our freaking pants?
I know that I’m not supposed to “get” the youth. If I did, they’d be doing it wrong. But I am fascinated and charmed by Gen-Z’s tendency to freely borrow from different eras and influences. A tight group of them often presents as a sort of "Breakfast Club" situation to me (if you are Gen-Z that reference might not land). Thomas Morton, (the author of the NYT article linked above) calls this eclectic style of dress "bricolage," but to my eyes it’s just as often a sincere pastiche or a kind of cosplay.
Take this recent Schmobb edit from Hood for example. The vintage nostalgia is heavy here. Lots of denim on hill, white belts, studded belts, zip up hoodies, and wildly varying sunglasses. But some riders look like they're from a boy band or a 2000s frat house, while others look like they could be a lead singer in a screamo band. And there's also a guy sporting pants that look like something maybe Danny Kass would have worn when he was in the Olympics in '06.
The vibes in this are impeccable, riding impressive, kits ... entertainingly and confusingly varied.
I also took a peek at the most recent iteration of the Uninvited Invitational, as this seems to me to be the best place to see the feminine contingent of "with-it" youngins in the wild. Mostly sensibly sized and dark colored pants here, but I did spy a pair of pink parachute-esque bottoms, and one pair of white bootcuts at the 30-second mark (worn by this gal?).
All of this is to say that I don't envy those whose job it is to forecast snowboard fashion into the future. While conservatism and functionality seemingly still reign, there are definitely tremors to the status quo.
Will the youth continue to mine nostalgia for cues on how to dress, or will they go sci-fi future fit? And realistically, are there even options for innovation here? Big down low and tight up top, that’s boot cut, but what about tight down low, big up top, "tuc toob?" I could see a kind of capri paired with patterned gaiters or even some convertible style zip-off pants. Or how about zippered vents randomly placed all over the place, going for goth vibes?
Maybe boarders will start to look further back to the fledgling years of our sport?
Nice Andrecht in here, the pants, not so nice.
Congratulations Deep Thoughts traveler. Once again, you've followed this winding path to the end. Here is your gift of some "Bizarre Boards": Got a spare $3457.00 lying around for this Oxess SXR 174 Nevin Galmarini Edition II? If you happen to spend it on this puppy send me a video of you laying trench on it.