We have all been there, admiring photos of silver screen icons of old in fantastic coats in what appears to be bulletproof melton and boiled wool in the days before central heating became as commonplace as windows. These coats although beautiful have little practicality today, with the proliferation of door-to-door transportation and the urban population seeing less and less exposure to the elements.
As such, much of this outerwear has been denigrated to the dark corners of our closets or the pre-loved store where they see little use, having become more tedious than useful. Particularly in Hong Kong where winters are short and sporadic, we turned our attention to coats that would keep the winter chill out in short doses but would not cause shoulder fatigue after a day’s wear, essentially a less rigid variety of overcoat.
This leads us to the famous camel coat Richard Gere wore in the ‘American Gigolo’ that we would be remiss not to mention in the realisation of our wrap coat. Ours takes the supple polo coat and pushes the informality further with raglan sleeves that softly envelop the shoulders, a tall collar, and generous lapels, teetering on the fine line between casual and dressy.
Our coats are remarkably easy to slip in and out of with its louche silhouette and proud collar, with just enough structure to turn up when making an appearance.
Vaguely reminiscent of a dressing gown, the coat is designed to be worn slouchy with a self-belt to cinch the waist for a sleeker silhouette. Wear it like Gere with the collar and lapels turned up and the belt knotted at the waist, or completely unfastened with a concealed jigger button to keep the fronts from flapping about in the winter wind.