The Only Jackets You Need This Season

They used to say, if you never throw your clothes away, you will still be in style once every twenty-five years. Today, that cycle is shorter, maybe a decade. What goes around certainly comes right back around. Jackets are that year-end (or sometimes, year-round) accessory that instantly elevates an outfit, keeps you warm, and of course, packs in that extra suave punch. In light of that, let’s see what cycle we are readying up for this season. In any case, don’t get too cosy with your grandfather’s jacket, it is outdated for various (other) reasons.

The original Canadian Tux makes a return, although many may argue that blue jeans and a denim jacket never really checked out. Today, you can style a denim jacket many ways – like a classic trucker or a quirkier yet formally acceptable, two-button sports jacket. In either case, it’s a great option for when the weather is turning and you are caught between seasons. The XYXX Denim Jacket is exactly that go-to overlay: lightweight, clean-cut, and easy to wear. Throw it over a basic tee, and you’ve got that effortless work-to-weekend ease all day.

This is the OG bad-ass jacket, made popular by fighter pilots in WWI who needed to stay warm in their open-top planes while flying at extreme heights. They also needed the jacket to be unusually short so that it didn’t ride any longer than their waist when they were sitting snug inside those tiny cockpits. The thick jackets were ultra-durable and could last a lifetime, which is possibly what happened when wars were over, and the extra supplies of said jackets made their way to the common man. That is how combat-wear becoming an article of daily-wear. Today, jackets can be fashioned with thinner fabrics and made to be a lot lighter, as the chances of anyone needing a jacket for their sortie on a Fokker or Sop with Camel are extremely slim.

This is the original hunting jacket, which was made to be durable across climates, and it was favoured by royalty across ranks. The fabric is cotton, so it is easy to wear and allows for movement, yet the wax coating ensures a fairly high degree of water repellence, making it an ideal outdoor jacket. The only problem is that the jackets lose their hydrophobic coat over time and need to be rewaxed (maybe once every season suffices), but to me, the process of applying hot wax onto a clean jacket is more therapeutic than labour. The best bit, in summers, the same jacket can be worn without the wax coating to make it a lovely breathable garment for layering, aka a utility jacket. The XYXX Cotton Canvas Jacket comes in earthy neutral tones - making it an ideal add-on over a dark monotone outfit or a simple light denim and white tee pairing.

To me, someone took duvets and applied them to clothing and ended with some serious ‘tech’-wear, i.e., stuff made for extremely specific slope-centric usage. If you were around a lot of ice and snow with lots of wind and wanted to stay warm without needing too many layers, down jackets were the way to go. But then, they also started featuring on the urban style landscape, becoming a convenient way to stay warm with a jacket that was durable, smart, super snug, and yet could be folded away and stashed into a bag’s side pocket. Today, the quilting styles and patterns have evolved from the standard ribbed look, so you can have many more funky patterns. Also, the weight of a down jacket decides how warm it will be, so you can have varying degrees of warmth being delivered in pretty much very similar silhouettes-like the Ultra-Warm Puffer Jacket by XYXX. Light down jackets are more than enough for winters in our tropical lands, but a ski trip might need you to up the ante and go for amore cushy version.

The original mamma’s bad boy jackets are famous for being so versatile that they are at home at a biker’s bar as much as in a fashionable soiree. The options are endless, in terms of styles but also in terms of the outer shell – from full-grain leather to suede, from lamb to other bovine sources and various exotic ones, a leather jacket is an investment you make for life. They age and acquire an unmatched patina, and are possibly one of the best ways to look cool while staying shielded. They aren’t waterproof, but they can handle most of what you may throw at them – wind, dust, grime, anything. As for colours, from classic black or tan to the more playful olive greens, dark plums, and chocolate, the shades are certainly not limited. You can never go wrong with a leather jacket, as long as it fits right.  

Jackets don’t just trend, they stick because they work: they warm you up, sharpen your silhouette, and add instant attitude. Whether you go for denim, bomber, canvas, down, or leather, pick the one that fits your weather and your routine. Wear it like a staple, not a throwback.