Description BLACKOUT is a snowboard jacket designed for the people behind the shot. Built for professional snowboard and ski videographers, it responds to long days spent hiking, riding, carrying gear, and working around trees, sleds, rope, snow, and ice. The project started with a simple observation: while technical outerwear keeps chasing lighter materials, mountain workers still trust leather in products like Kinco gloves because it holds up, can be maintained. I wanted to see what would happen if that same thinking was applied to a jacket. The result is a piece that blends workwear durability with a modern premium silhouette, using leather, beeswax treatment, ventilation, and camera specific storage to support real use in the field. BLACKOUT is not about nostalgia. It is about looking back at proven material logic and using it to question what performance outerwear should value going forward.
Innovation The innovation in BLACKOUT comes from applying the logic of proven mountain workwear to a category dominated by lightweight synthetic shells. The project was inspired by Kinco leather gloves, which are trusted by mountain users because they are simple, durable, rewaxable, and easy to keep alive season after season. BLACKOUT asks whether that same logic can be brought into snow outerwear without losing the modern look and functionality expected from premium performance apparel. To validate the material direction, I tested the leather against 2.5-layer and 3-layer waterproof shell fabrics. In abrasion testing, the leather lasted 201 revolutions, while the comparison fabrics lasted 8 and 10. In tensile testing, the leather reached 350 N, outperforming one shell construction and staying competitive with the other. Rather than claiming full waterproof performance, BLACKOUT uses a beeswax finish as a more maintainable and sustainable approach to water resistance.
Product Detail BLACKOUT is built from 1.5–2 oz plonge cowhide, chosen for its strength, flexibility, and ability to take abrasion in ways modern shell fabrics often cannot. The exterior is finished with a beeswax-based treatment that improves water resistance while staying maintainable over time. Instead of relying on a membrane that is difficult to restore, the jacket uses a treatment that can be re-waxed and kept in use longer. Inside, an alpha fleece mesh lining helps regulate comfort during stop and start movement and adds warmth without making the jacket feel overly insulated. The structure combines traditional material logic with a modern outerwear silhouette, using leather as the primary performance material while integrating zippered ventilation, internal battery storage, and a waist cinch for fit and weather control. The result is a jacket with a modern silhouette, made from traditional materials, and has camera specific utility.
Specification BLACKOUT is a high fidelity snow sports outerwear prototype developed for men’s winter use, with a fit that layers comfortably over base and midlayers while maintaining a clean, premium silhouette. It is shown in black, a choice tied to both its professional use case and the history of the film industry, where black helps the user stay unobtrusive behind the camera and absorb light. Designed for snowboard and ski videographers in cold alpine conditions, it pairs a leather shell with an alpha fleece mesh lining, zippered venting, internal storage for batteries and tools, glove friendly access, thumb holes, and a waist cinch. It is slightly heavier than a traditional ski jacket, trading weight for durability, lifespan, and repairability.
