The Cheerful Charm of Our 'Fun' Suede Jacket

This beatific piece of outerwear is waiting to brighten up your wardrobe and – just maybe – your life.

It’s true that menswear can sometimes become a terribly serious business. Of course, in order to make something exquisite, one has to take things seriously. But it’s important to remember that – to paraphrase our friend Mr. Boyer – dressing is an art, not a science, and should never become a source of headaches and anguish. Simply put, it should be a pleasure, not a task to be undertaken with a heavy heart.

Admittedly, many of our wardrobes don’t exactly scream ‘joy’ at first glance. This writer’s wardrobe (as I’m sure is the case with many men) is a veritable buffet of conservative, earthy tones: dusty browns and mossy greens, with liberal helpings of navy and charcoal thrown in for good measure. While these are the clothes and the colours that I dearly love – and, perhaps more importantly, feel comfortable in – they aren’t the sort of thing that immediately catch the eye and lift the spirits.

Cue the ‘Fun’ Suede Five-Pocket Chore Jacket. It’s all there in the name. A jacket so vibrant and joyous it can’t help but win the heart of whoever crosses its path, not least our Creative Director, Michael Hill, who’s rarely seen without of his.

'We were visiting the factory in Italy where we make our outerwear,' Michael explains, 'and they had these scraps of different coloured suede lying around: it gave me the idea to create a patchwork version of our chore jacket. Initially we just made a single prototype, which I took to wearing all the time, and it wasn't long before I was being asked constantly by people whether they could buy their own one. Naturally, I knew we had to put it into production.

‘It’s certainly not for everyone, but I think those who really understand its appeal will fall in love. It's also a nod to those classic ‘fun’ shirts you used to see, where factories would use leftover odds-and-ends to make these sort of jazzy Frankenstein creations. They were dubbed fun shirts for the light-hearted quality they had, and there’s something in that. At a time when men wore almost exclusively white and pale blue shirts, these were radically different from the norm. I think many of us are guilty of relying heavily on a very limited palette of muted tones, so this feels refreshing, perhaps even a little subversive.’

It should be said that we also offer our Suede Five-Pocket Chore Jacket in the more palatable shades of chocolate, and rust, but for those who want their outerwear to radiate a beatific exuberance, there’s the ‘fun’ version, waiting to brighten up your wardrobe and – just maybe – your life. 

Shop Coats & Jackets