Mar
13
2009
By
The Staff
of Valet.
Seasons:
The
Revival

The Harrington Jacket Gets a Spring Awakening

In 1937, Baracuta, a clothier out of Manchester, England invented a lightweight cotton jacket with tab collar dubbed the G9. Over the years, it's been embraced by preps and punks alike and while the company still makes the original model—often referred to as a Harrington—the jacket is enjoying a resurgence this spring from labels both young and old.

  • The
    plaid used in the lining of the original G9 jacket is a Fraser tartan.

"The amazing thing about the Harrington is its resilience to trends, which is what I love about proper clothing," says Aaron Levine, the design director for Hickey. "It can be worn with whatever—jeans and a T-shirt or madras trousers with an oxford and a tie."

His version is crafted from waxed Italian cotton with horn buttons and, like styles from Bblessing and Junya Watanabe, has a slightly trim cut for a more modern take on the classic. "But really, it's stood the test of time for seven decades," says Levine. "And it's bound to be around for seven more."

  • A lot of cool guys have sported the jacket—Sinatra, Elvis, Daniel Craig—but no one's been as closley tied to it as Steve McQueen. (LIFE magazine, 1963)
The Jackets

Red: Original Harrington G9, $165 at Baracuta

Blue Check: Junya Watanabe for Baracuta, $500 at Baracuta

Yellow: Hickey, $595 at Hickey

Tan: Claiborne by John Bartlett, $128 available in April at Macys

Black: Bblessing, $525 at Bblessing

 
 

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