You Guys Have Nothing to Do With Fly Fishing
Purple Mountain Observatory and Db entered fishing as outsiders. That may be exactly why GONE FISHING is interesting.
“You guys have nothing to do with fly fishing.” Purple Mountain Observatory and Db didn't disagree. Their answer was essentially: so what? That exchange became the premise behind GONE FISHING, the first collaboration between the British outdoor label and Norwegian luggage company. Neither brand presented itself as an authority on the sport. Instead, the project was built around curiosity, the idea that being interested in something can be enough reason to enter it, provided you are willing to learn once you're there.
It's a refreshing premise in an outdoor industry that often spends considerable energy proving authenticity before introducing a product. Rather than manufacture a fishing pedigree, PMO and Db made their outsider position part of the work. They began with one of fly fishing's most recognisable objects: the vest. The resulting ALUULA Modular Fishing Vest uses seven front storage pockets, tool loops, fly patches, a net attachment and a removable rear storage compartment. Around it sits an oversized sling, a 25-litre backpack and luggage, tied together through Db's Hook-Up system so parts of the system can connect to one another. The material choice pushes the project further. Much of the collection uses ALUULA Graphlyte, a lightweight composite material developed to deliver significant strength without the weight traditionally associated with durable waterproof fabrics. For an object like a fishing vest—where weight accumulates quickly once every pocket is filled, that relationship makes practical sense.
But GONE FISHING becomes more interesting when you stop looking at it as equipment. The visual vocabulary of fly fishing has been quietly escaping the river for some time: chest packs, sling bags, technical fabrics, modular storage, clipped-on tools and, particularly, the fishing vest. Here those archetypes are being interpreted by companies that weren't historically part of fishing at all. The campaign acknowledges that tension directly. Shot on Exmoor, PMO and Db brought in fly-fishing guide and casting instructor Lewis Hendrie, whose experience represents almost the exact opposite of theirs. Hendrie started fishing at four, took up fly fishing at eleven and subsequently represented England at youth and senior level. The contrast is arguably the point. One side knows the culture intimately. The other sees familiar objects with unfamiliar eyes. Sometimes that is where interesting things happen.
Fly fishing doesn't need to be protected from everyone who discovers it from the outside. What matters is whether those people arrive simply to borrow the aesthetic, or whether they are willing to stand in the river and learn something. GONE FISHING makes a fairly convincing case for the latter.
Catch the collection here
