{"id":200862,"date":"2025-10-13T08:23:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T15:23:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=200862"},"modified":"2026-01-05T16:56:49","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T00:56:49","slug":"rei-heritage-colors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/camp\/rei-heritage-colors","title":{"rendered":"Just the Right Tone: REI Archive Color Brings the Past into the Present"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/MKGyY8VG9CU\" title=\"87 Years in the making\u2014an REI Color Story\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The shade of green on the puffy jacket is familiar and somehow cozy. A little bluish, lighter and softer than hunter, but still more green than teal. A green that makes you feel like it\u2019s 1987 and you\u2019re a kid again, wearing your mom\u2019s hand-me-down long underwear and sleeping in a slightly smelly canvas tent. The puffy jacket\u2019s beige lining, patch hand pockets with flaps and snap placket clinch the effect. When Amanda Russell lifts it up for closer examination, you can almost smell the dew of a bright, chilly alpine morning.&nbsp;<br><br>That\u2019s exactly the sort of vibe Russell, senior manager for color and print at REI Co-op, was hoping to foster when she and her team selected this particular green as the flagship in a new timeless palette\u2014REI Archive Colors\u2014 that they\u2019ve developed for REI Co-op products. Poring over several decades of green co-op apparel and gear<strong> <\/strong>pulled from the Co-op Living Archive, Russell and creative directors Nicole Rock and Ian Eburah kept coming back to this 1978 REI Alpine Jacket.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br><br>It was just \u201cso special,\u201d Russell says. \u201cThis color in this jacket\u2014you could look through your family history and find a picture of someone that has something similar. There\u2019s this emotional connection to color that I think is so exciting, and sometimes it happens at a subconscious level that people don&#8217;t quite understand.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The green was also completely its own. It did not appear in existing engineered color standards that the designers relied on, so dye would need to be specially formulated to match it. In other words, the magic green could be a signature hue for REI. It was a perfect choice for the core REI Archive Color palette, which designers developed to reflect the brand\u2019s heritage and identity, so that they can carry that authenticity into contemporary designs and prints long into the future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1920\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/10\/Archive-Color-Blue-Anorak.jpg?w=576&#038;resize=1080%2C1920\" alt=\"Two gloved hands hold a bright blue anorak jacket.\" class=\"wp-image-200864\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>A classic anorak in the Co-op Living Archive, studied for its bold blue.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Living Archive: A Source of Inspiration<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Situated at the center of the co-op\u2019s Creative Hub space in Seattle, the Living Archive is the project\u2019s foundation and inspiration. Its 20 rolling stack shelves, 20 or so flat files, and various racks and boxes house everything from 150-year old tintypes of REI co-founder Lloyd Anderson\u2019s ancestors, to a parka hand-sewn in the 1960s by disability justice activist Delia Cano when she worked at the co-op, to former REI CEO Sally Jewell\u2019s ice axe. Most importantly for the color team\u2019s purposes, the archive contains every catalog published since the co-op&#8217;s creation in 1938, as well as a curated selection of apparel, sleeping bags, tents, backpacks and other gear. &nbsp;<br><br>Typically, picking a color palette starts by surveying trends, Russell explains, with designers dipping into what\u2019s happening in clothes, interiors, even contemporary fine art, and assembling visual boards of images and color swatches to help guide the process. For this color palette inspired by the archives, the team surveyed every color-printed REI catalog since 1967, looking for sparks of joy and connection. From that work, the team narrowed down four color themes that seemed consistent and classic in outdoor gear across the years: red, blue, yellow and\u2014of course\u2014green. \u201cYou go to a campsite, and you&#8217;re going to find all four of those colors being worn around that campsite\u2014mixed in different ways, with different personalities, but they&#8217;re there,\u201d Russell says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/10\/Archive-Color-Amanda-Russell.jpg?w=1024&#038;resize=1200%2C675\" alt=\"A smiling person sits looking into the camera, and underneath her picture is a line of text that reads Amanda Russel, senior manager, color and print.\" class=\"wp-image-200863\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Amanda Russell, REI Co-op senior manager, color and print.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But the work wasn\u2019t done yet. There are dozens of shades of yellow, for example. So, the group then needed to pull down hundreds of color swatches and begin a process of elimination and elevation, culling these yellows because they were too pastel, say, and these others because they had too much red undertone. The team considered feasibility\u2014whether specific hues would reproduce in certain fabric or work with a certain product\u2014as well as whether designers could successfully use them in prints and with other palette colors selected for the season. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt seems like they just kept going through this breathing motion,\u201d observes co-op historian Will Dunn, who oversees the archive. \u201cThey started with, the idea of green, which is so broad, and then, you kind of exhale down to something more specific, and then realize, \u2018Oh, that&#8217;s not quite right. It actually did need more yellow.\u2019 And so, it breathes back out into that spectrum. And it just kind of went through that motion many, many times.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>From Heritage Hues to Signature Shades<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As Russell and her team color \u201cbreathed\u201d over the course of about three months, they worked with Dunn to pull selections of gear that they could see and touch and talk about. Some of these naturally spoke to the group, just as the green jacket did. Eburah was particularly taken with a cotton anorak of deep blue with red undertones, and this arresting shade helped inspire REI blue. Historical tents and the accent trim on a giant down Cyclops Bivy sleeping bag from 1962 that incorporated all three primary colors helped inspire REI yellow, a shade that recalls a fisherman\u2019s slicker. REI red has roots in the sleeping bag&#8217;s body color, and is as rich and orange-y and bright as tomato soup on a cold day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Russell relishes discussing the finer points of the co-op\u2019s new palette. She got her start working with color more than 10 years ago as a designer at Michael Kors in New York, making women\u2019s clothes. When she found herself escaping the city every weekend to hike and trail run and camp, she realized she needed a change, and took a job working on color design for Patagonia. About eight years ago, she made the leap to REI in Seattle and worked her way to the top of the color team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/10\/Archive-Color-Ian-Eburah.jpg?w=1024&#038;resize=1200%2C675\" alt=\"A person smiles at the camera in front of garments in a storeroom. Underneath his picture is a line of text that reads Ian Eburah, creative director, gear and cycle\" class=\"wp-image-200866\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Ian Eburah, REI Co-op creative director, gear and cycle<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bringing the Palette to Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Russell pulls a <a href=\"\/product\/235321\/rei-co-op-powderbound-insulated-jacket-womens?color=MIDNIGHT%2520WAVE%2520MIDNIGHT%2520NAVY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">women\u2019s snow jacket<\/a> off a rack and holds it up to show off its wild horizontal waves of black stripes atop an on-trend fuchsia, both set off with hot streaks of REI red that add a classic feel to the striking pattern. There\u2019s also a kid\u2019s fleece in solid red, its warmth enhanced by a contrasting slash of REI-blue zipper. Then, Russell stretches up to a high bin on a shelf and pulls down a sample of polar fleece with white, fuchsia and REI red splashed across an earthy terra cotta color in an appealing <a href=\"\/product\/248976\/rei-co-op-campwell-fleece-pullover-womens?color=NIGHTFALL%2520MULTI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">botanical pattern<\/a>. Next is a swatch <a href=\"\/product\/250155\/rei-co-op-campwell-flannel-shirt-womens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">of soft magenta flannel plaid<\/a> with REI red and a deep brown spice color zinging through. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are just a few examples of how the co-op is featuring REI red in fall 2025\u2019s products, Russell explains. It&#8217;s a foundational color for the new REI Co-op <a href=\"\/b\/rei-co-op\/f\/pl-campwell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Campwell<\/a> and <a href=\"\/b\/rei-co-op\/f\/pl-trailmade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Trailmade<\/a> collections and women\u2019s snow, and appears in multiple different fabrics and styles for men, women and kids, and in both prints and solids. These colors are about \u201chonoring our own product and our own stories,\u201d she says. But \u201cwe&#8217;re actually using these colors in a more modern way, and it&#8217;s also building season over season.\u201d REI blue also debuted for fall in the Campwell and Trailmade collections, as an accent and component of fabric prints, because its unique undertones add \u201ca really beautiful kind of unexpected pop,&#8221; Russell says. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/10\/Archive-Color-Fleece.jpg?w=1024&#038;resize=1200%2C675\" alt=\"A person seen from the shoulders down sits at a table, looking through textiles and color swatches.\" class=\"wp-image-200865\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>REI yellow, meanwhile, will feature prominently next spring, as a solid color for tents and backpacks in the Trailmade collection, as well as in a fabric that improbably incorporates lime green, spice and blue into a print that looks lovely alongside the yellow gear. And that magnetic REI green will come in fall of 2026, because it must be custom dyed\u2014no existing green was the right match. It will mostly feature as a solid color in apparel in the Campwell and Trailmade collections.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dunn is thrilled by results of the color team&#8217;s effort. \u201cHistory is collaboration,\u201d he says. \u201cEveryone has an opinion who REI is, but none of us are completely right on our own. It only starts to make sense when you add all of us together. The color palette follows a little bit of that thinking. Looking at the sum of our past to understand who we are. It&#8217;s cool to see that come through in a physical expression.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that color palette is not yet complete, its own history still being collaborated, still coming alive. And the co-op has Russell\u2019s \u201cshower thoughts\u201d to thank.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI would be home, and it would just be bothering me: I think we\u2019re missing something,\u201d she says. A possible fifth color was nagging her. Sometimes the answer came to her as often the best ideas do, in the shower. Russell can\u2019t say what it is yet, but if you consider that the palette already includes the three primary colors and a green, \u201cwhat would the obvious color be?\u201d she asks. \u201cYou could probably guess it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rei-callout-block -color-block\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Can you guess the fifth REI Archive Color?<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Leave a comment with your ideas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:35px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/10\/Archive-Color-Swatches.jpg?w=1024&#038;resize=1200%2C675\" alt=\"Swatches from the REI color palette, including blue red and yellow.\" class=\"wp-image-200868\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:51px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-primary\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\/b\/rei-co-op\/f\/pl-campwell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Shop REI Co-op Campwell<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:51px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-primary\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"\/b\/rei-co-op\/f\/pl-trailmade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Shop REI Co-op Trailmade<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The shade of green on the puffy jacket is familiar and somehow cozy. A little bluish, lighter and softer than hunter, but still more green than teal. A green that makes you feel like it\u2019s 1987 and you\u2019re a kid again, wearing your mom\u2019s hand-me-down long underwear and sleeping in a slightly smelly canvas tent. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30740,"featured_media":200868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,717],"tags":[2262,2289,2269,421,2290],"internal-tag":[2011],"class_list":["post-200862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camp","category-video","tag-behind-the-designs","tag-campwell","tag-co-op-living-archive","tag-rei-co-op","tag-trailmade","internal-tag-home-secondary"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/camp\/rei-heritage-colors","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Just the Right Tone: REI Archive Color Brings the Past into the Present","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/camp\/rei-heritage-colors","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/camp\/rei-heritage-colors"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/10\/Archive-Color-Swatches.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/10\/Archive-Color-Swatches.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080"},"articleSection":"Camp","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ever Meister"}],"creator":["Ever Meister"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["behind the designs","campwell","co-op living archive","rei co-op","trailmade"],"dateCreated":"2025-10-13T15:23:36Z","datePublished":"2025-10-13T15:23:36Z","dateModified":"2026-01-06T00:56:49Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Just the Right Tone: REI Archive Color Brings the Past into the Present\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/camp\\\/rei-heritage-colors\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/camp\\\/rei-heritage-colors\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Archive-Color-Swatches.jpg?resize=150%2C150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/Archive-Color-Swatches.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080\"},\"articleSection\":\"Camp\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Ever Meister\"}],\"creator\":[\"Ever Meister\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Uncommon Path \\u2013 An REI Co-op Publication\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[\"behind the designs\",\"campwell\",\"co-op living archive\",\"rei co-op\",\"trailmade\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2025-10-13T15:23:36Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-13T15:23:36Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-06T00:56:49Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rei.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/10\/Archive-Color-Swatches.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30740"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200862"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201205,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200862\/revisions\/201205"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200862"},{"taxonomy":"internal-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-tag?post=200862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}