Style
Over-Haul: Ten Of The Best Overcoats of AW16
Winter is well and truly upon us and Christmas is but a few weeks away, so we thought it high-time to foreground some of the finest outerwear on the market this season.
Words Charlie Thomas
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Brunello Cucinelli Shearling Car Coat
If you’re feeling extravagant this winter, then a shearling coat may be a good choice. Cashmere royalty and purveyor of unrelenting luxury, Brunello Cucinelli produces this single breasted car coat, which wouldn’t look out of place on the back of the Bentley Boys of the 1920s. You can picture Woolf Barnato rocking this behind the wheel of a Blower around Berkeley Square back in the day. You could attempt to emulate him, although it probably won’t have quite the same effect when you’re queuing in Itsu on your lunch break. It’s fully lined with lustrous shearling though, so at least you’ll be warm.
£4,250.00, www.mrporter.com.
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Zegna Grey Down Parka
For days when a posh overcoat is simply not warm enough, you may find yourself turning to that hole in your wardrobe where a down-filled parka should be. Whilst you may be of the opinion that parka coats lack sophistication and elegance, your opinion will change now you’ve come across this example by Ermenegildo Zegna. Unless you’re against the use of animal fur in clothing, in which case you’ll hate it. Crafted from grey pure wool flannel and with a coyote fur trim hood that is begging to be touched, it featured a drawstring waist and a simple design with twin flap pockets at the front. Whilst it’s undoubtedly a casual coat, Zegna has been clever in using a flannel fabric, which is usually reserved for tailoring. It gives the coat a smarter edge and differentiates it from the many other inferior parkas on the market.
£2,035.00, www.zegna.co.uk.
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Grenfell Chiltern Belted Coat
Grenfell’s outerwear offering or AW16 is nothing short of spectacular. Their rainwear is a real highlight, yet this double-breasted, belted overcoat really stands out. Cut from a sublime blue/white/grey boucle alpaca/wool fabric, it has a distinct militaristic shape that will stand up tall against the chill of winter. With black leather buttons and adjustable cuffs, it can be worn open to allow the texture to bounce off your inner layers, or buttoned up and belted, imbuing a certain weather-beating confidence in the wearer that is hard to match.
£895.00, www.grenfell.com
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Chester Barrie Dogtooth Change Coat
Although it wouldn’t look amiss over a sharp suit, this Chester Barrie change coat is ideal for applying a tailored edge to your weekend wardrobe. With a blue and grey ‘dogtooth’ pattern, which is softer than the usual white/black, it acts as a subtle statement piece, best worn with muted colours underneath. It features a contemporary mid-length finish yet the wide notch lapels hark back to bygone days of glamour and decadence, when men were men and people read books not Facebook.
£695.00, www.chesterbarrie.co.uk.
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Berluti Unstructured Cashmere Overcoat
Perhaps the most versatile coat on this list, this Berluti unstructured cashmere overcoat can be worn with pretty much anything. Apparently inspired by the rich colours used in the paintings of Mark Rothko (it just looks like dark blue to me), it is beautifully soft and slightly oversized, which will only make it easier to wear. With mid-size lapels, slanted front pockets, natural shoulders and a single rear vent, it’s hardly reinventing the wheel but if you’re looking for a warm, comfortable, classic coat in a lustrous fabric that you’ll wear every day, this could be the one.
£3,100.00, www.mrporter.com.
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A.P.C. Time Coat
A clever coat that is suitable for a wide array of social contexts, A.P.C. has set the sleeves in at the front yet given the coat raglan construction at the back, a method that is both technically difficult and pretty cool. The fabric is a chestnut brown Italian mouliné wool, which has the appearance of rather bleak 1970s sofas, in a weirdly appealing way. An easy to wear and comfortable coat, it only feels right to wear it with chunky fisherman rollnecks and wide-wale corduroy. You can forget the dodgy facial hair though.
€540.00, www.apc.fr.
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AMI Classic Two-Button Coat
Ami is one of those brands that, if you walked into one of their beautifully fitted stores with your eyes closed, you could reach out and grab a handful of garments, throw them on erratically and look really, really good. This coat is an example of what the brand does best. The recipe is quite simple: take a classic menswear staple (in this case, an overcoat), keep the elements that made it a staple in the first place (flap pockets, single-breasted, two button front, flap pockets), and add a subtle point of difference (in this case, a textural herringbone pattern fabric). It’s a winning formula.
£480.00, www.amiparis.com.
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Rubinacci Casentino Ulster Coat
A greatcoat of epic proportions, this latest Rubinacci x The Rake number is a bit on the special side. Made in a style popularised by the great tailoring house in the 1930s, it is in fact the first ready-to-wear ulster coat Rubinacci has ever produced, and the coat’s pattern is entirely new, cut by Mr Mariano Rubinacci himself. For sale now on our website, the coat boasts such details as, ‘a narrow double-breasted wrap, revere collar, a box-pleated and half-belted back, turn-back cuffs, patch and flap pockets and a softly tailored, half-lined Neapolitan construction’. Available in blue, green or brown, they’re perhaps all the winter coat you need.
£850.00, shop.rake.webdezign.uk.
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Gloverall Morris Duffle Coat
Duffel coats were originally named as such because of the fabric they were first made from, which itself was named after the town of Duffel, an area in Antwerp in Belgium. Like so many garments in the menswear canon, the duffle’s iconic status was first cemented during The Great War, when British Naval officers adopted them to protect against the harsh cold whilst at sea. Gloverall has long been producing duffle coats, and since their popularity exploded in 1960s Britain, they’ve been the go-to choice for the duffle connoisseur. This full-length Morris model is unlined as is the traditional way, and features the classic buffalo horn toggles, leather hoop fastenings, large hood and fixed shoulder cape.
£399.00, www.gloverall.com.
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Dior Camel Overcoat
Most team members of The Rake own a camel overcoat in some form or another, which basically means they’re a must-have. This one by the legendary french house of Dior is clean as hell, featuring discreet slanted side pockets and no breast pocket. A beautiful, minimal rendition that allows the crisp cut of the coat to take centre stage, it will undoubtedly see plenty of wear in your rotation, such is the versatility of camel, both in colour and fabric.
£2,500.00, www.brownsfashion.com.
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ami paris, APC, berluti, brunello cucinelli, chester barrie, Dior, Gloverall, Grenfell, Men's Style, outerwear, Overcoats, Rakish, Rubinacci, Shop The Rake, zegna
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