Cheat Code for Japanese Streetwear Grail: Bag With Over a Dozen Cargo Pockets
General Research, a prior iteration of ongoing outdoorsy Japanese label Mountain Research, is deeply admired in certain collector circles, primarily for its abundantly cargo-pocketed "Parasite" pieces. The recently reintroduced — deep breath — Gregory x Nexus VII x General Research "Parasite" bag series is a pretty solid intro to the line.
The collaborative backpacks build on a collaboration kicked off in late 2023, which introduced the three-way bags in frankly superior "Coyote" colors. These new iterations, which release on the Mountain Research site by early 2025 are a little less appealing in their comparatively conventional neutral tones but, hey, a cool bag's a cool bag.
And these are very cool bags, indeed.
Here, 23-year-old Japanese label Nexus VII brings the versatile Japanese branch of military accessories imprint Gregory into the collaborative fold with a vast array of cargo pockets borrowed from the General Research Parasite series that first launched around the late '90s.
The resulting backpacks and sling bags are fitted with, yes, a spate of pockets so vast that it appears to parasitically take over the sturdy Cordura bags' bodies. Pretty great stuff, and proof that all you needed to create a proper Japanese streetwear grail was some obvious visual flair.
So great, in fact, that collectors hoard original Parasite pieces in a bid to flip them for big bucks. Original General Research Parasite jackets, for instance, are often listed for four figures on secondhand sites and proved popular enough for similarly storied Japanese label Is-Ness to remake them a few years back.
This niche but passionate devotion to highly specific Japanese streetwear paraphernalia has spurred hopeful flipping of everything Parasite, including rather conventional-looking fishing vests and even a decades-old Supreme parody tee.
The Parasite hype is also indicative of broader interest in other vintage statement streetwear items, like the many-zippered Phenomenon bomber. It's not as big a movement as, say, the luxury auction scene but it's solid evidence that the archival clothing business is still, clearly, booming.
