Nearly 40 years after it hit the mountains, one bright cobalt parka caught the attention of a team from Japanese design brand BEAMS during a visit to REI in Seattle.
The iconic jacket, pulled deep from REI archives, was delightfully puffy, with Michelin Man levels of loft. Electric glacial-blue, it featured oversized front-facing pockets and an enormous detachable hood.
An archival tag identified it as the Expedition Down Parka, which REI sold for more than two decades. It was designed for some of the harshest conditions, with a comfort rating of 40°F below zero. Despite that burliness, it looked downright cozy.
A BEAMS buyer slipped it on, sank into its warmth and sighed with satisfaction.
That 1986 vintage parka would become the inspiration for the new BEAMS and REI collaboration.
Photo Credit: Will Dunn/REI
“In that moment, it was just obvious. That’s the garment,” says Will Dunn, who manages the co-op’s historic collection of products and stories. During that spring 2025 visit to the Living Archive, Dunn pulled dozens of garments for the BEAMS team to browse, including outerwear dating back to the 1960s. This parka immediately stood out.
“Everybody who wears it gets a smile on their face instantly,” says Scott Mosher, creative director of brand at REI.
Everything Classic is New Again
The BEAMS x REI Co-op Expedition Parka, which has a limited release of nearly 500, stays faithful to the original parka while adding special touches that honor the co-op’s outdoor heritage and the design know-how of BEAMS, an influential curator of Japanese style.
The parka not only looks like its predecessor, but it also sounds like it, down to exacting recreations of “the cool old REI button snaps,” says Dunn.
“We were determined to capture the look and feel of the original,” says Neenah Maier, REI senior apparel designer. The team bought additional vintage parkas, and along with factory partners. And they “dissected every detail using gloves, seam rippers, magnifying glasses, and a scale to try to match the original’s loft, ease, comfort, and hand feel.”
The jacket was intended to recognize everything that preceded it—all the stories, expeditions and knowledge gained wearing it on the mountain, says Dunn. The contemporary design preserves the past and present at the same time, he adds.
“When we began working with the original Expedition Parka from REI’s archive, there were so many details that felt special and worth preserving,” said Keita Kobayashi, men’s casual buyer for BEAMS.
“We wanted to respect what made the original [parka] distinctly REI while bringing a BEAMS perspective to how it could be worn today. That balance between outdoor function, history and everyday style is what makes this collaboration exciting to us,” explained Kobayashi.
BEAMS buyer Shigeru Kaneko (left) browses outerwear housed at the Living Archive, the co-op’s collection of historic products and stories. At right, Shigeru browses gear with REI brand creative director Scott Mosher (left) and BEAMS representative Mizuki Maeda (far right). Photo credit: Dustin Kingman/REI
It also builds on a successful collaboration between REI, BEAMS and On. In 2025, the three brands released a limited-edition global trail running and basecamp capsule.
Reinterpreting a Classic
The new BEAMS x REI Co-op Expedition Parka retains the thoughtful details that made the previous model a practical choice on Alaska’s Mount Denali in 1986—and the details that make it retro-cool today. For instance, it keeps the same oversize fit, which was necessary decades ago when bulkier base layers demanded more room. The vivid color keeps the wearer visible in snowy conditions. And it’s rich in other features like a snap-in powder skirt to keep snow out and D-rings for clipping gloves and accessories.
The parka got smart updates, too, to take advantage of innovative new materials. It features a WINDSTOPPER® by GORE-TEX LABS shell fabric to block those gusts of mountain air; a durable water repellent (DWR) treatment made without PFAS to keep it water-resistant; recycled materials; and 650-fill-power down insulation. These combine to make a lighter jacket that maintains the “super puff” of its predecessor, says Mosher.
Where REI contributed its long history of technical expertise, BEAMS brought deep knowledge of streetwear style and cultural relevancy.
“BEAMS collaborates with brands around the world, so it felt meaningful that they were genuinely excited about REI and eager to explore our archive,” says Maier. “Their extensive knowledge of historical garments also gave them a unique lens on what makes REI distinctive. I especially valued seeing which signature elements they wanted to preserve, and how they proposed updating them to create something fresh.”
The most obvious departure from the original is the parka’s distinctive red hood. Inspiration came from Kaneko’s obsession with outdoor clothing. He’s written a book on the subject. And he has an impressive personal collection of vintage outerwear, which went on tour.
Kaneko found a vintage jacket in his collection with a different color hood from the body. The team guessed that the previous owner probably had the same jacket in two colors and swapped hoods. That mismatched jacket inspired the new iteration.
Other easter eggs honor the design process and the special nature of the globe-spanning collaboration. While the original parka had no external branding, the new one features both brand names in gold embroidery on the body and hood.
An internal replica of the original jacket’s “care label” now tells the story of how the jacket came to life. And like any fastidious outdoorsperson, designers tagged the neck label with what looks like permanent marker—a nod to iconic jacket that started it all, which was labeled the same way.
Even though the original is no longer in production, there’s still a certain, ahem, warmth felt by those at the co-op who remember it. The co-op’s Magnusson Lab still owns the parka, which engineers once wore in the frigid climate-controlled chamber while testing gear. And one store location had an Expedition Parka that employees used as a “therapy jacket,” for comfort on tough days, Dunn discovered.
Now thanks to this collaboration, a new generation will discover the parka.
“What it does offer,” says Maier, “is the warmth, character, and retro appeal of the original design, reimagined for today.”