1-AM

Lately, I’ve been anxiously working away on my final collection pieces for school and one of the garments is an MA-1 style bomber jacket. I’ve taken into account many details from various iterations I have seen over recent months and am very excited about completing my own version. The MA-1 bomber has never quite gone out of style but definitely saw an influx in popularity over the last year with many celebrities and style icons wearing a plethora of the jackets from different designers and brands. Though the MA-1 craze spread mainly through the internet with kids all around the world grabbing an Alpha Industries original from their local Urban Outfitters or thrift shop, I feel there is still room for a unique and well designed MA-1’s to grace the scene. Below I’ve highlighted a few notable ones that have caught my eye.

Uniform Experiment / Alpha Industries

I first saw a model wearing this jacket in the 2014 A/W video for UE and I was instantly blown away. The all white leather outer is literal crack, it’s unreal, who even thinks of using all white leather on a jacket? The original orange lining keeps the heritage of the jacket intact and allows it to really give the jacket a luxury feel, as if UE gave a thousand dollar face-lift to the original Alpha Industries bomber.

Nonnative

This one I chose on the pure look alone. The cut of the bodice and shape of the arms together as well as the natural tone of beige creates such a piece of eye candy. Nonnative is one of my favourite brands that constantly takes classic menswear outerwear pieces and manages to update and reinvent them in modern cuts like this. Even small details such as longer hem ribbing and welt pockets placed farther apart show the immense attention to detail.

Fear of God

HYPE. That’s all I can really say for FoG stuff. Jerry Lorenzo really went to town with these though. The ruching on the sleeve is a unique addition that really sets apart the bomber from others and is finished with a generous fit, two way silver Ri-Ri zips, and details such as the large rounded flap pockets on the back that have become a signature. These were executed extremely well and even though they’re priced out the ball park for most dudes like me, we can still appreciate it’s one of a kind aesthetic.

Acne

No wonder everyone would ask me if my jacket was Acne when i wore it out.. Last year I made a reversible bomber with a black outer and dusty pink satin inner and had no idea this existed until a while ago. I think ASAP Ferg was wearing it in a picture and then I saw a similar jacket in the front window at Zara. Whatever, I don’t really wear the pink side anymore though. Regardless, it’s definitely not a colour for most males out there, but using this ‘dusty’ version of pink creates a much more sophisticated tone that attracts the inner imagination of a guy to say ‘Damn, I wonder how that would look on me?’. I’ve always been fond of these ‘dead’ tones for a variety of colours since they’re much more subtle and a jacket like this would catch attention without blatantly screaming ‘LOOK, I’M WEARING PINK TO MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT MY ECLECTIC TASTE IN FASHION’.

Stussy / Gore Windstopper

Since the Deluxe line for Stussy has ceased, a lot of what would seem appropriate for Deluxe has seemingly been released as a special projects and garments under mainline. Though I do miss Stussy Deluxe, there have been some very strong collaborations and products put out over the past seasons such as this jacket, which was from last F/W. Utilizing a protective windstopper fabric, the real charm of these jackets is the ribbed shoulder gussets that add another layer of depth. The collar is also much narrower in general and compared to the hem and cuff ribbing creates an interesting silhouette, even though it’s only a slight detail. This one definitely plays on the classic MA-1 with the classic orange quilted lining, pen pocket, and flaps in the front that keep it’s military appeal. I fell in love with the olive one as soon as I saw it in person, the use of different shades of olive create a masculine contrast that I’ve never seen on any other olive bomber before.

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Currently, I’m still in the process of perfecting the pattern pieces for my MA-1 inspired jacket. The different detail options to choose from are overwhelming sometimes but that’s kind of what really attracts me to design. It allows me as a designer to take into consideration all these possibilities and curate them into something that reflects my tastes or even innovate them further. I look forward to showing the jacket once it’s ready.. it will be burgundy by the way.