Foward outdoor

Brand overview and significance

Forward Outdoor is a technical outerwear brand born in the European Alps and built around the culture of skiing, snowboarding and mountain trail travel. With roots in Annecy, France and Verbier, Switzerland, the label sits at the intersection of freeride, freestyle and touring rather than traditional race culture. It first appeared under the FW / “Future Wild” name and has since evolved into Forward Outdoor, keeping the same design language and mountain focus while sharpening its sustainability and product strategy.

The brand was initiated by experienced snowsports industry designers, including people who previously shaped skis and outerwear for other well-known companies. That background shows in the way Forward’s pieces blend real backcountry performance with a clean, fashion-aware silhouette. Rather than flooding the market with dozens of overlapping categories, Forward builds a compact lineup centred on the Catalyst all-mountain range and the Manifest high-alpine line, plus a smaller collection of midlayers and lifestyle pieces. For skiers watching skipowd.tv, Forward sits in the same conversation as modern freeride-focused outerwear labels: not as big as the legacy giants yet, but clearly positioned as a serious player rather than a niche experiment.

Forward’s stated mission is to “evolve to a future wild”: apparel that enables more time in harsh environments while reducing long-term impact. That shows up in its design language (muted earth tones mixed with strong highlight colours), in marketing built around deep snow and technical terrain, and in its decision to anchor the company in real mountain hubs instead of a distant city office. For riders who care as much about line choice and snowpack as about fit and colour, Forward has quickly become a brand to pay attention to.

Product lines and key technologies

Forward’s lineup revolves around two main outerwear families. The Manifest High Alpine Series is the brand’s flagship for touring and big-mountain freeride days. Shells and insulated bibs in this range are designed for long ascents and exposed descents, the kind of days when you might skin in the Wasatch backcountry or drop in off the Aiguille du Midi above Chamonix-Mont-Blanc. The focus is on multi-layer systems: lightweight 3-layer shells for weather protection, combined with synthetic or down-insulated midlayers that can be added or removed as temperature and effort change.

The Catalyst Series is Forward’s all-mountain and freestyle backbone. These jackets, pants and midlayers are cut for mobility and style, with fits that work in the park, on sidecountry laps and on storm days under the lift. Insulated 2-layer jackets and pants sit alongside more breathable shell options, so riders can choose between a warmer, resort-focused kit or a lighter setup that handles both rail sessions and short hikes to natural hits. Across both series, Forward uses technical fabrics with waterproof-breathable membranes, fully taped seams and details like well-placed vents and snow skirts to keep riders dry without feeling boxed in.

Underneath those hero pieces sits a range of hoodies, midlayers and hybrid insulation tops that tie the system together. Quilted hoodies and hybrid puffies, for example, are meant to double as both on-mountain insulation under a shell and everyday wear in town. Rather than chasing loud gimmicks, the brand leans on purposeful patterning, smooth-acting hardware and fabrics chosen to move easily with a skier’s stance.

Ride feel: who it’s for (terrains & use-cases)

On snow, the Forward experience is built around movement and weather protection more than extreme stiffness or race-style precision. Manifest shells and bibs are cut with generous articulation through the knees, hips and shoulders so that kick turns, bootpacks and jump turns feel natural rather than restricted. The fabrics are protective enough for high-alpine storms yet soft enough that they do not feel like crinkly mountaineering shells, which helps on long days of touring or repeated gondola laps when comfort matters as much as outright performance.

Catalyst pieces skew a little more relaxed and playful. They are aimed at riders who split their time between groomers, side hits, tree runs and park features. The ride feel here is about confidence and forgiveness: roomy cuts for tweaks and grabs, enough insulation in some models for chairlift time in midwinter, and shells that handle slushy spring park laps without feeling heavy. A skier who loves slopestyle edits, sidecountry bootpacks and the occasional storm-day cliff drop will feel at home in this series.

Forward’s layering pieces appeal to riders who want one kit that can stretch from mid-December powder days to April touring missions. A Manifest shell can pair with a light hybrid hoodie for high-output touring or with a beefier insulated jacket on very cold lifts. That flexibility makes the brand a good fit for skiers who ride in multiple regions each winter, from continental cold snaps to humid coastal storms.

Team presence, competitions, and reputation

Forward’s visibility comes less from mass-market advertising and more from its tight connection to the freeride, backcountry and creative film scenes. The brand’s founders and current product leaders have long histories in ski and snowboard culture, which gives Forward immediate credibility among riders who follow films, photo projects and progressive outerwear design. Campaigns and editorial collaborations often feature photographers and athletes working on serious lines rather than staged studio shoots, underlining that the apparel is meant to be used, not just seen.

Forward has also worked with influential riders and creators whose names resonate in freeski and snowboard communities. Projects featuring skiers like Eric Pollard emphasise balance, style and creativity in deep-snow terrain, matching the clothing’s design language with a certain way of moving in the mountains. Retailers and media outlets that specialise in freeride and freestyle outerwear frequently call out the brand’s balance of technical build and minimalist styling, positioning Forward as one of the more design-driven options in the modern outerwear landscape.

Within shops and guide circles in Verbier and other alpine hubs, Forward is increasingly spoken of as a brand that takes both sustainability and performance seriously. It is not yet a long-established legacy label, but its outerwear has earned a reputation for feeling “real”—garments that hold up to storm cycles, bootpacks and travel days without sacrificing the clean lines and colour blocking that appeal to riders who care about how they look in photos and clips.

Geography and hubs (heritage, testing, venues)

Geographically, Forward is anchored in two of European skiing’s key reference points. Annecy lies in the French Alps, close to freeride-heavy resorts and touring zones, while Verbier sits above the Val de Bagnes in Switzerland as one of the world’s classic off-piste and freeride destinations. The brand identity openly references this dual heritage, and its collections feel tailored to the mix of steep gondola-accessed descents, tree shots and touring terrain that define these regions.

Product copy for the Manifest line explicitly imagines riders moving from the Wasatch in Utah to the high-alpine routes accessed from the Aiguille du Midi above Chamonix. Linking inspiration from North American backcountry with European big-mountain venues gives Forward a natural test lab: dry continental powder and rocky exits on one side; glaciated couloirs and long descents to valley floors on the other. For skiers who dream of ticking off classic lines in both hemispheres, that global mindset is part of the appeal.

Because the brand is based in real resort towns rather than a distant office park, riders are likely to encounter Forward products in places where they actually ski. Flagship retailers in Verbier and Annecy, demo events on local pistes and collaborations with mountain photographers all help refine the garments in real-world conditions. When you see a Forward shell in a gondola queue, it is usually on someone who spends a lot of days outside, not just a weekend visitor.

Construction, durability, and sustainability

Forward communicates its values very clearly: design for durability, use recycled materials, avoid PFAS/PFC finishes and create genuine end-of-life solutions. That starts with the fabrics. The outerwear uses modern waterproof-breathable technologies that balance storm protection with the ability to dump heat when skinning, bootpacking or lapping hot laps under the chair. Fabrics and linings are chosen not just for numbers on a spec sheet, but for how they feel over long days—supple enough to move with the skier, tough enough to resist scuffs from chairlifts, rocks and ski edges.

The durability message goes beyond marketing. Forward talks about building pieces that last many seasons and designing around repairability, not disposability. High-wear areas like cuffs, hems and shoulder zones are specified with longevity in mind, and the brand’s commitment to collecting, repairing and recycling garments at the end of their life stands out in a market where many “eco” claims stop at fabric content. An emerging network of resort-based collection points is intended to keep worn-out pieces out of landfill and feed their materials back into new products where possible.

On the chemical side, Forward emphasises PFAS- and PFC-free water-repellent finishes, aligning with a broader industry shift away from older fluorinated treatments. Combined with recycled and, in some cases, bio-based yarns, that approach helps reduce the environmental footprint of both fabric production and everyday use. For riders, that means you can choose a high-end shell or insulated jacket that performs in harsh weather without feeling like a compromise on sustainability.

How to choose within the lineup

Choosing the right Forward setup starts with where and how you ski. If your winters revolve around backcountry touring, high alpine traverses and steep freeride terrain, the Manifest range is the natural starting point. A 3-layer Manifest shell paired with matching bibs gives you a protective outer envelope you can wear almost every day, with midlayers swapped in and out depending on temperature. Look for more touring-oriented pieces if you prioritise uphill efficiency, and slightly heavier, lined options if you tend to ride lift-served freeride lines with shorter hikes.

For riders whose days mix groomers, side hits, park laps and the occasional bootpack, the Catalyst all-mountain series fits better. Insulated 2-layer jackets and pants work well in colder climates and for those who spend a lot of time sitting on chairs, while shell versions suit more active riders or those who ride into spring. Pay attention to fit: looser cuts favour freestyle skiers who want maximum freedom for grabs and tweaks, while more regular fits appeal to freeriders who prioritise stability at speed.

If you are building a full kit from scratch, think in layers. Start with a shell from Manifest or Catalyst that matches your terrain, then add one or two midlayers that you could wear both on the hill and in town. Forward’s hybrid hoodies and insulated shirts are particularly useful here; they slide comfortably under a shell on storm days but also work solo on dry, cold mornings. Finally, match colours and silhouettes to your existing helmets, gloves and skis so that your Forward outerwear feels integrated into your overall setup rather than a bolt-on afterthought.

Why riders care

Skiers and snowboarders gravitate toward Forward Outdoor because it speaks the language of modern mountain culture. The brand is young enough to feel fresh, but it is built by people with deep experience in product design and in real-world riding. Its collections are compact, easy to understand and thoughtfully segmented, so riders can quickly identify whether they belong in a Manifest shell and bib for big objectives or a Catalyst kit for all-mountain and park-focused seasons.

Equally important, Forward’s sustainability work feels integrated rather than bolted on. Recycled fabrics, fluorocarbon-free water repellents and concrete end-of-life initiatives send a clear signal to riders who want gear that matches their environmental concerns without sacrificing performance. For skipowd.tv viewers who spend their free time watching powder lines above Verbier 4 Vallées or steep couloirs dropping from the Aiguille du Midi, that alignment matters: the same outerwear that looks good in a film shot in Switzerland or France is also taking steps to protect the terrain those films celebrate.

In short, Forward Outdoor occupies a sweet spot between core freeride credibility, thoughtful design and future-facing responsibility. It is a brand for riders who want gear that keeps up with ambitious days in the mountains, feels good to wear, and reflects a belief that the “future wild” should remain worth skiing in.