December 8, 2012 |
There’s one coat here – the first one, a black reverse sheepskin, with oversized leather pockets and leather shoulders, tightly belted at the waist and cut like a trench – that looks a bit like a poodle. The second one – in a matt leather in a sort of murky green colour, also cut like a trench – is more reminiscent of baby seal, but not as shiny. It takes a certain talent to cut a coat that, to our minds, looks like some cute baby animal and turn it from something that (with the appropriate face paint) would make a fabulous fancy-dress costume into something that looks sleek and the height of elegance. It’s a talent that Martin Cooper, the new creative director at Belstaff, just happens to have. He’s able to take a traditional coat, a biker jacket for example, and through his use of different textures – waxed cottons, leather, exotic skins and fur – and a slight tweak to its cut, or the addition of an oversized collar (or through dispensing with a collar altogether) breathe a new lease of life into it. Which if you were to sit down and think about coats for a second – after all, they’ve been around for forever, there’s really only so much you can do with them, etc – is quite remarkable. Especially since Belstaff are, to put it mildly, rather well known for their outwear. Founded in 1924 by a man called Harry Grosberg, Belstaff made their name specialising in making technical garments that were windproof, rainproof and heavy-friction resistant, and found popularity among the motor-sports community in the 1930s. Their Trialmaster jacket, created in 1947, was worn both by the champion motorcycle racer Sammy Miller and Che Guevara. Che being probably the bigger seal of approval, as we are talking about a man who travelled across South America, a lot of it on a motorbike. There was even a film made about it, starring that dark-haired actor who used to date Natalie Portman. Any coat that can withstand a road trip like that, exposed to all the elements, is probably one that would be rather good at keeping you warm and dry throughout the winter months. The summer months, too, as it turns out, since July has recently started to bear a striking similarity, weather wise, to October. They are season-less coats designed to withstand the season-less brave new world we live in.
by Natalie Dembinska
