The brands and technologies to know for luxury outerwear
Undoubtedly a wardrobe essential, it's safe to say we will be pulling out our outerwear jackets over the next few months. From goose-down jackets and fur-lined military coats, Sherpa jackets and advanced techwear,
MooRER
I believe in the elegance of simplicity, of eliminating the unessential – I am satisfied only by excellence. - Moreno Faccincani
Mackage
Inspired by his brothers’ experience in the leather industry, Eran Elfassy launched the brand in 1999. Two years later, Elisa Dahan joined him and, together, they developed the contemporary outerwear brand Mackage. The Mackage collection is elevated outerwear with a unique balance between fashion and function. Combining the finest leathers, down, and wool with tailored silhouettes and detail the jackets are a modern version of outerwear.
Designed to ensure that every part provides a specific benefit, they ensure optimum comfort, warmth and protection. With features such as breathability, 3-layer fabric membranes, double-faced wool and more Mackage assures the highest quality outerwear on the market.
Woolrich
With a heritage stretching back to 1830,
The parka has become a mainstay in the Woolrich collection since its introduction in 1972, offering a combination of practical warmth and waterproofing as well as a luxurious feel with Woolrich’s plush collars. The modern interpretation of Woolrich’s parka, the Arctic, features a special Teflon finish to guarantee resistance to snow, rain and wind.
Canada Goose
Yet despite its heritage of creating jackets designed for bracing the harshest outdoor conditions, Canada Goose has become a favourite in the luxury outerwear space and is a staple part of street style snaps from fashion weeks around the world. Collaborations with brands including Vetements and OVO have followed and so too has expanded into Europe, with Canada Goose opening up its first—and impressive—European shop on London’s Regent Street in 2017.
Where to start your obsession with Canada Goose? For women, the Kensington style-inspired Kinley is the brand’s hero and bestselling parka jacket with a robust Arctic-Tech construction, filled with North American white duck down and a snorkel hood to trap warmth close to the body. The parka is also cut with a modern slim fit—a key factor for its popularity. For guys, the Wyndham jacket is the male equivalent of the Kinley and a mainstay in Canada Goose’s collection, again with an Arctic Tech construction, white duck down, a coyote fur trim and the contemporary slim fit.
Herno
As a heritage brand now at the forefront of technology, Herno provides well-made functional coats and jackets resistant to rain, wind and outdoor exposure. Created by Guiseppe Marenzi and his wife Alessandra in 1948, the Italian sportswear brand has grown from strength to strength maintaining its tailoring skills and craftsmanship throughout.
Named after the river Erno that passes through the headquarters of Herno, the brand name pays homage to their initial inspiration: water. With previous experience in WW2 and employment in a raincoat manufacturing company, Guiseppe found ingenious solutions to improve waterproof materials. This, paired with his inspiration to find adequate clothing to protect against harsh winters, and passion for Italian style, fuses Herno's legacy.
Y-3
The brainchild of Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto, adidas Y-3 launched in 2003 and heralded the beginning of an ever-closer relationship between high fashion and technical sportswear. In some quarters, the collaboration between Yamamoto’s fashion label and the sportswear giant marked the creation of a whole new category in fashion: luxury sportswear.
Ten years ago, together with adidas we created something that did not exist before and completely projected the future. My desire was and is to make sportswear elegant and chic. adidas is a very personal inspiration to me … it enriches my creative life. - Yohji Yamamoto
After graduating from Tokyo’s Bunkafukuso Gakuin Design School in the late ‘60s, Yamamoto emerged as one of the most exciting names in Japan’s fashion space. Under his eponymous Y label, Yamamoto first mastered womenswear before expanding into menswear in 1979. Throughout his work, Yamamoto expressed a fascination with the importance of fabrication which is tangible in virtually every piece he creates. By the 1980s, he had received world recognition for challenging the notions of fashion and using untraditional fabrics such as felt and neoprene. His unconventional approach to fabric was at the heart of his collaboration with adidas which gave him access to some of the most advanced fabric processes available in world manufacturing.
Fabric is everything. Often I tell my pattern makers, "Just listen to the material. What is it going to say? Just wait. Probably the material will tell you something. - Yohji Yamamoto
Moose Knuckles
Dating back further competitor Canada Goose the brand launched as a luxury label in 2009.
Creating tailored outerwear from ethically sourced and proven performance fabrics, their jackets are a mix of luxury quality, heritage, grit and Canadian know-how. The brand prides itself on authenticity, telling the story of Canada. Their sleek and modern aesthetic has meant they have become a firm favourite amongst well-known ambassadors and famous names such as musician Post Malone. Their outerwear fabric composition is 74% cotton to 26% nylon ensuring the parkas are long, lasting and durable. The winter jackets have a temperate rating of nearly -40 degrees and come with heavy-duty zips to withstand wear. All jackets are complete with a high level of water and wind resistance, with some having a faux fur trim in the hood.
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