Arc'teryx and BEAMS Mark 25 Years by Bringing Back the 1998 Theta AR

Arc'teryx and BEAMS have been making things together for 25 years, and BEAMS turns 50 this year, so the anniversary collection goes back to a jacket a lot of Arc'teryx fans remember: the Theta AR, first released in 1998. The six-piece KOYO collection, named for Japan's autumn leaves, goes on sale Friday, September 25, at BEAMS Harajuku and at Arc'teryx brand stores in the US, the UK, Canada and China, all on the same day. In Japan, only BEAMS sells it.

BEAMS says the new Theta AR keeps the original's details (the center flap, the zip covers on the pockets, the old-style pull tabs) and rebuilds it in GORE-TEX PRO ePE, with a BEAMS 50th-anniversary logo inside. It's color-blocked in Arc'teryx's Blaze and BEAMS' corporate orange, with a tricolor zipper meant to read like leaves turning and a 24K logo embroidery. In Japan it's ¥187,000 including tax.

Next to it is a Gamma softshell jacket in BEAMS orange (¥52,800), the first time BEAMS' name has appeared as an official Arc'teryx color, and Jogen cargo pants built on a long-running BEAMS model and named for a bouldering problem at Ogawayama, in regular and short lengths (¥49,500).

BEAMS

The Kragg long-sleeve tee (¥17,600) prints six of BEAMS' past anniversary products across its back, from its 25th to its 50th. A Konseal 15 backpack in a new brown Hadron fabric with orange zippers (¥19,800) and a black Gamma 5-panel cap (¥13,200) round it out.

BEAMS

Getting in at BEAMS Harajuku is by lottery. Entries run until 11:59am Japan time on September 22 (10:59pm ET on Monday, September 21), for entry on the 25th, 26th or 27th; it takes a BEAMS CLUB membership in your own name and photo ID at the door. In the US it's the Arc'teryx brand stores, and neither brand has posted US prices or said whether any of it goes online.

BEAMS

If you're in New York, there's something to see before any of it is on sale. NOW / THEN, an archive exhibition of 25 years of Arc'teryx x BEAMS collaborations, runs Tuesday, September 22 through Thursday, September 24 at 45 Grand St in SoHo, 11am to 7pm, and it's free. It moves to BEAMS Harajuku for the release weekend, September 25 to 27. A remade 1998 shell is the right centerpiece for it: earlier Arc'teryx x BEAMS Theta ARs still turn up on resale sites years later, and this one pairs the original's look with a current GORE-TEX shell.