Despite its intended invisibility, camouflage print is pretty in your face nowadays. From pop stars to presidential candidates, the print is infiltrating mainstream fashion in a rather unique way. So why is camo so back this year, and will it stick around?
Mary Brooks, a senior at the University of Miami from Bainbridge, Wash., is reaching for the camouflage print pieces in her closet more often.
“I have a camo hat and long sleeve shirt. I wore them a lot this summer… they match the Pacific Northwest, outdoorsy vibe,” Brooks said. “My style isn’t super girly, and I like how they can be styled in a feminine or masculine way.”
She’s not alone in this. From high-fashion runways to small thrift stores, the print typically associated with the military or rugged outdoorsmen is performing quite well in 2024.
WeMarketResearch, a market analytics and research firm based in India, forecasts the camouflage fashion market rising from $5.3 million in 2022 to $9.9 million by 2033.
But there are nuances to camouflage’s prevalence in 2024. When asked if she wore those same camo pieces while at school in Florida, Brooks was quick to change her tune.
“I don’t bring them out in Miami. It feels too, like, genuine? Like a Florida hick,” she added. “Outside of Florida it’s more… camp.”
Brooks doesn’t mean camp as in campground, in which case camouflage would be very appropriate. To understand the recent uptick of the print designed not to be seen, it’s important to know what “camp” in the fashion world means.
In 1964, American writer Susan Sontag wrote a whole book on the subject, titled “Notes on ‘Camp.’” Sontag defined camp as an aesthetic characterized by a sometimes tongue-in-cheek, often over-the-top approach, using pieces that wouldn’t typically be seen as stylish in a way that translates as an intentional artistic message or performance.
“Camo has been around for many years in fashion,” said Miami-based stylist Elysze Held, specifically referencing Marc Jacobs controversial grunge collection of the 1990s.
While camouflage ebbs and flows over time in the fashion world, its resurgence in 2024 bears a different tone, with some of the most iconic mainstream pieces of the year coming from rather unexpected brands and people.
The most notable camouflage product of this year didn’t come from a designer company or luxury brand — rather, it was made by union workers for the Democratic party. Soon after Kamala Harris’ candidacy was announced in July, her campaign launched camouflage baseball caps as merchandise. As of Aug. 8 this year, the campaign reportedly sold nearly 50,000 units, totaling almost $2 million in sales.
Rebecca Brubaker, digital director for the Harris campaign in North Carolina, got a firsthand look at the origin of the coveted piece of campaign merch, which was modeled after Democratic vice-presidential candidate and Minnesota governor Tim Walz’s own camouflage cap.
“The merch team proposed it, and people at first were like, ‘we don’t know if anyone’s gonna buy it,’” Brubaker said. “Then the factory in New Jersey that was producing them couldn’t keep up with the demand, and knockoffs even started popping up.”
“It’s intriguing that political candidates have started bandwagoning certain social media inspired, pop culture trends,” said Tiffani Knowles-Senatus, who teaches a fashion public relations course at the University of Miami. She says she views the move as a clear PR and marketing tactic.
“It says, ‘I’m down! I’m one with the people. I’m just like the common folk,’” Knowles Senatus added – an attitude that Democrats have been criticized for lacking in recent years.
Brubaker says the hat, which is camo print with “Harris Walz” in orange embroidering, became symbolic of the campaign.
“A lot of what we did was taking ideas that are typically associated with the Republican party, like freedom, and flipping that on its head,” Brubaker said, citing Republican hypocrisy when it comes to reproductive freedom as an example.
“I think the reason why it was so popular is because it was a subversion of something that would typically be considered a conservative look,” she added. “It was a conversation starter.”
Before Midwesterner Walz’s hat came on the scene, another midwestern public figure was selling out her own variation – Missouri native and Grammy-nominated pop star Chappell Roan.
The hat, which is camo with the words “Midwest Princess” embroidered in orange – a reference to Roan’s hugely successful album “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” — is currently sold out on her merch site. Roan’s album centers heavily around her dating experiences as a lesbian woman, with fun, campy production – subject matter that doesn’t necessarily align with the typical associations and conventions of camo.
“I think her brand is very chaotic and mismatched, and the orange with the camouflage is along those lines,” said University of Miami junior Sophie Fournier, who is a fan of Roan. Fournier is also the president of UThrift, a University of Miami student organization that hosts a weekly thrift swap pop-up on campus to promote sustainability in fashion.
“I was just at Goodwill yesterday and noticed a lot more camouflage that piqued my interest,” Fournier said. “It’s different than how camo used to be perceived – it just goes to show that things that are seen in one way can be seen differently depending on the generation.”
And it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. The influencer-created clothing brand Dairy Boy amassed 139,000 followers on Instagram since its creation in 2021, frequently dropping all-camo loungewear collections. Just this week, the popular salad chain Sweetgreen announced its new merch product – the “Kale Camo Hoodie” — featuring camo print made with the shapes of kale leaves.
With the rise of camouflage though, comes certain risks to be aware of — beyond the print going suddenly out of style — . Something Knowles-Senatus discussed with her fashion PR class this semester was how fashion and PR choices are perceived globally.
“Take the camouflage trend. You dare not wear any of the Chappell Roan or Dairy Boy camo pieces on a trip overseas, because wearing camouflage attire is illegal in most Caribbean nations, several African countries and in Saudi Arabia – if you’re not a member of the military,” Knowles-Senatus said.
“I would encourage students to think critically about how our fashion choices in the U.S. relate to the world outside of our own insular bubble,” she added.
Knowles-Senatus’ comments on the relationship between fashion and larger national and international culture also bring rise to the question of how the print will age through the next few years – specifically, in the next Republican presidency. Perhaps the tongue-in-cheek, unexpected era of camo is here to stay. Or perhaps, like Brooks said about Florida, fashion lovers will desert it entirely and leave camo to the huntsmen.
words_julia hecht. photo_ethan dosa. design_marita gavioti.
This article was published in Distraction’s Spring 2025 print issue.
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