Why it belongs in ORBIS
Climbing-gear label started in 1982 by Stonemasters climber Mike Graham ('Gramicci') in a Ventura, California garage; known for the gusseted G-Pant and shorts, later revived and expanded commercially through a Japanese licensee.
Gramicci grew out of Yosemite's 'Stonemasters' climbing scene of the 1970s. Mike Graham, one of that group, began designing his own woven climbing shorts around 1980 and founded the Gramicci brand in a Ventura, California garage in 1982. His nickname came from an earlier stunt: some Stonemasters had attempted the first all-Italian-style ascent of Yosemite's Half Dome despite none of them being Italian, and adopted Italianate nicknames - Graham became 'Gramicci.' The brand's signature detail is a diamond-shaped gusset at the crotch, borrowed from kung-fu trouser construction. In more recent decades the label has had a strong second life in Japan, where licensed production has kept the archive-inspired silhouette in regular rotation.