Hikerdelic Journal

Radio Hikerdelic #03

A healthy mix of funk and soul is never a bad thing. Happy listening.

Radio Hikerdelic #02

Better late than never, playlist 2 is here for your listening pleasure. Enjoy.

Hikerdelic x Yogi Eric Shoes on Manchester Cobbled Street

Hikerdelic x Yogi Eric Shoes Take 1

The business of photoshoots is fraught with unpredictability, especially in February. Imagine you've got some lovely shoes ready for pounding the dusty pavements of summer, but you're relying on Mancunian weather to behave itself. It's not going to end well is it? And yet, we couldn't let these smashing shots go to waste. In many ways they're that bit more appropriate because let's face it, the British summer time will probably look a lot more like this than the sun-drenched streets we're imagining. See more of our Yogi x Hikerdelic shoes here.

Radio Hikerdelic #01

We've given our Playlist series a little revamp. We're kicking things off with a joyful selections of sounds that are sure to put a smile on your face. Hopefully this will be a weekly tradition, we'll try our best anyway. Enjoy.

Fashionable Outerwear: The Hikerdelic Calland Corduroy Puffer Jacket

Week 40 - Where am I? Who are you?

It's great coming into work every day being able to work on a brand you've built from scratch, especially as it's not exactly been a vocational calling. I never sat down as an errant 14 year old and boldly stated "I'm gonna pair up with my mate to make a magazine, then end up making clothes with all mushrooms on and give it a portmanteau name".But here we are. I quite like it. It's a unique learning curve and also a lesson that impostor syndrome is largely a load of nonsense. It's been on my shoulder since we set up a magazine about 19 years ago. Who are we to just start doing this? Surely we should go on a course of some sort? Get a certificate maybe? Someone is going to ask to see our papers and find us out. Except none of those things have happened because almost everyone is winging it in one way or another. It's just that some are much better at said winging because they've been doing it longer. With COVID seemingly lurking around every corner like a snide little bogeyman, working during a pandemic is a challenge. Kids in school, kids out of school, do I want to use public transport? Not really. Is my face mask doing any good? Lots of headspace ends up getting devoted to out of the ordinary concerns and your brain ends up screaming for a time out. Thing is though, I don't think I need one. I like being in the office. I can work from home, no doubt about it, and maybe if things get worse it might become an option we're forced to take. But for now we're alright, you know? It's going well. We're taking some perverse pleasure from ploughing on through things despite the most testing situation in decades. We get to the end of each week and metaphorically I stretch my arms out wide like the Angel of the North and go "Still here if you wannit, come at me". Then I go home and cry silently into a mirror. I don't really. What have we been up to though? That's what you're really here for, not my existential insecurities laid bare. Well, part of the aforementioned learning curve has been pure snakes and ladders this year. One ladder has come in the form of Japanese and North American licensees jumping onboard and adding a new dimension to what we do. I like the idea of lavender corduroy but I'm not daring enough to include it in our UK range (yet). No such fear from our U.S counterparts. California is more fitting for that vibe than Crumpsall. And when Japan put your brand through that unique filter of theirs, you're bound to end up with some mad takes. It's just what we wanted. Back here in the UK, our first range has arrived in fits and starts. Brexit and Covid have paired up like some troublesome tag team to cause us maximum delays and discomfort with deliveries. But everything is here in the UK now, albeit in some cases trapped in a customs queue. If we're lucky, our rugby shirts will be on sale this week. If we're super lucky maybe we'll even see outerwear though thats much more likely next week. It's always been strange seeing puffer jackets going on sale in July at the height of summer, but that's fashion and its weird seasonality. Given the miniscule numbers we've made of our outerwear, we're a bit more relaxed about launching bang on time for the wind and rain. Just 50 pieces exist of our Calland Corduroy Puffer. 49 once I've got mine. Much of our time lately has also been spend formulating Autumn/Winter 2021. Let's just say things are moving on and we're not far off sampling stage. Likewise, Spring/Summer 2021 features a pared down collection which was partly dictated by having our hands tied by covid but also a feeling of comfort at going t-shirt heavy and complementing it all with new colours in our smart Conway Smock. Off white, olive, blue and maybe an olive all feature in a more Spring-weight fabric. I've waffled on far too much now. Had a bit of catching up to do didn't we? Will try not to leave it so long next time.

New Autumn Winter Hikerdelic T-Shirt Range

Week 35 - Could this be the week?

The long-awaited arrival of AW20 coincides this week with the start of September. Pretty much bang on time isn't it? What to expect in drop 1? New t-shirts, mainly new t-shirts. We've upped the quality on these as we continue our quest for world domination. Outerwear remains en route and just like this gear, it'll arrive bang on time, just for when you need it. (aka next week ;-))

Week 33 - Eric and Derek incoming

Despite no new product this week, it's been another head exploder in terms of things going on. With the first drop of AW20 due in 2 weeks, and our sale section looking pretty depleted we thought we'd keep things moving with a new t-shirt release. This will feature our cartoon duo Eric and Derek. Both have had a minor makeover and will find themselves on the front of t-shirts, possibly as soon as next week. Aside from that, other irons in fires include:- - A second drop of Gosha Orekhov bags, this time actual backpacks. - Mugs to match the aforementioned cartoon tees- Ongoing talks with Earthwell about another drinking vessel releaseThey're just ones for the immediate future. We'll be sharing more info when it's right to do so. For now, take a look at the mugs we've transplanted over from propermag.com. They were always meant for Hikerdelic and now they're in their rightful place. Also remember we had a nice restock on bucket hats recently that was perhaps lost in the midst of our sale and other releases.

Week 32 - Dear Diary - New Bag Collaboration

We're back from full furlough this week. Just in time for the dreaded second wave. What can you do though? We've just got to be vigilant and embrace the new normal. Behind the scenes, plenty has been happening. This week sees the release of part one of our collaboration with a little-known Russian brand named Gosha Orekhov. We saw these guys on Instagram about 2 years ago and came within a whisker of getting something off the ground. For various reasons, it never came off, but recent conversations ended positively and here we are. Keep an eye on our Instagram for some more pics this week. The bags are limited to just ten of each colour and they go online this coming Thursday at 7pm. Feel like there's loads more to tell you, but we'll leave it for next time. For now, nice one for reading and thanks for your ongoing nice comments, purchases and your sharing of our stuff online. It makes us smile and blush at the same time.

Model Wearing The Hikerdelic Calland Puffer Jacket

Introducing... The Hikerdelic Calland Puffer Jacket

Is cord the most practical outer fabric for a padded winter puffer jacket? Well, maybe there are better performing materials out there, but do they look as lovely? We think not.The truth is, this is the most complete embodiment yet of what Hikerdelic means to us. Cord by its nature is velvet for the people. When royalty used velvet to show their status, the commoners took that look and made it their own via corduroy. It's an age old tale of the working classes wearing clothing beyond their status yet still having the innate individuality to twist it a little. That's why corduroy works for us. A good friend of ours coined the term "luxury scruff" and that covers it for us. Think mid-80s casuals dressing down to avoid being pigeon holed by the authorities. Think scientists with eye watering halitosis yet an unerring aim for the sartorial centre bull. Anti Cool. Uncle Cool.On the subject of scientists, another local name lends further depth to the development of this piece. F.C Williams may sound like your mate's five a side team but it stands for Frederic Calland Williams, a man born in the Romiley district of our home town, who spent the 39-45 conflict through radar research.Following this he relocated to the University of Manchester where he basically helped invent the modern computer. Could go into loads more detail, but it's pretty meta that you're now going to use your miniature computerised telephone to find out about one of its inventors. So there you have it, boffins and corduroy go together and the fact this bloke was such a pioneer is a happy coincidence. The Calland Puffer is being produced in the lowest numbers of all outerwear we've ever produced so if you want one, you'll need to ensure you're quick off the mark. Available in due course.

Pair of Yogi x Hikerdelic Eric Chukka Boots Colour Senape Sand

Yogi x Hikerdelic Eric Shoe

Last week we braved public transport and an uncommon Merseyside sandstorm to shoot the Yogi x Hikerdelic Eric shoe collaboration. Take a look now.

The Hikerdelic Conway Smock Colour Deep Banana Yellow

Introducing... The Hikerdelic Conway Smock

New for Autumn/Winter '20, introducing the Conway Smock. This is our third smock and clearly things have moved on in look and feel. The woven arm patch features the work of @daren_newman and will also appear on a couple of t-shirts in the range. This smock features drawstring hood and hem with contrast colours (purple, to be exact) and comes in two colours, this deep banana yellow colour (nesquick anyone?) and a rich navy shade which looks like futuristic denim, but isn't. The 60/40 fabric is a well established cloth in outdoor clothing which boasts the necessary technical chops to see you through the wind and rain. As for the name, well it's another local figure with a slightly vague but relevant clothing link. James Conway was a milkman who volunteered to take part in a daring World War 2 mission to destroy German vessels docked in Bordeaux. This feat was commemorated in 1955 film Cockleshell Heroes. A statue of Conway minus his canoe stands proudly in our (and his) hometown. Under his life jacket, he's wearing a very suave hooded jacket with what looks like a sleeve patch. The look is topped off with a nice wool cap. Give him a Google.The Hikerdelic Conway Smock will be available in August 2020.

Strangeways Here We Come

It started out as an opportunity to take some photos in and around our Ancoats base. Next news we're google earthing Cheetham Hill and Strangeways. Loads of nice walls around there, good backdrop. Plus, you know, it's a big prison. Alas, we never made it that far. Instead we stuck to the neighbourhood. For the best, really. They won't have liked us taking photos near such a high risk security building, probably. Maybe we'll give it a go next time. Here's some pics anyway. All of this is available here on this website. Do your worst.