When you wear suit jackets every day, or even blazers, it can sometimes be difficult to determine whether you really need a coat. There are temperatures that are both too cold to wear just a jacket or blazer and too warm to wear a winter coat.
You follow me ?
In a casual style, there are a plethora of choices: leather jackets, bombers, work jackets, denim jackets, etc.
But in a more formal style, the candidates do not jostle at the gate... although this is a real need.
This is why we wanted to look at the mac, this essential piece during the spring/summer/fall period.
Yes yes, our mac works even in the wind.
But can you wear the mac in a casual style?
For me, there are almost as many possibilities as with a bomber or a leather jacket. A pair of sneakers, jeans or wool pants, there's plenty to do!
Above all, there are very interesting layering effects to do with a mac: you can put a sleeveless vest underneath, or even a denim jacket.
And obviously, with any sweater or sweatshirt, it's an easy combination.
In short, it's a piece that is not at all restrictive, even less in a "casual chic" style.
A Cinabre bag, a Norse Projects hoodie, and Veja sneakers, and let's go for a relaxed outfit.
Originally, the mackintosh is rain clothing. It was therefore out of the question to use a classic cotton without any properties as most brands do, because the fabric would absorb water by capillary action in the slightest rain.
However, we didn't want it to be too technical either, because you have to be able to wear it in dressy outfits as well. We therefore needed a technical material, without it seeming too technical...
The goal is to be able to experience this kind of scene, but without having your pimp dripping, like this scene from the film Diamonds on the Couch.
Fortunately, there is a 100% cotton material that has surprising properties against water...
Its story is as romantic as it is incredible, as eventful as it is nebulous, it is time for me to introduce you to Ventile, the fabric of our mac.
We're going to talk about war, cold water, Canada's maritime security, and very fine cotton. Let's go !
It is certainly a piece that will help you in your reflections facing the sea.
The story of Ventile: between myth and reality
The "official" story, the best known, is this, short version: it is a fabric invented to allow English plane pilots to survive in icy water during the Second World War .
This is what is repeated, almost word for word, by the vast majority of brands that use Ventile (example here , here too , there again , and there too ), in the three lines reserved for the description of the material.
In French brands and media, it is also this same story that is repeated over and over again.
But I like to dig, this explanation was unsatisfactory to me. So let’s start from scratch…
Hawker Hurricane pilots, the two on the left have a wool jacket, and the two on the right a leather jacket... This detail is important.
The “official version” of the birth of Ventile
In the 1930s, with the boom in textile industrialization, the British government feared a shortage of linen, which was used to make water hoses and buckets for firefighters.
So, he encouraged research to replace linen with cotton, and after several researches, they witnessed the creation of a fabric with a weave so compact that it retained water.
And the worst part is that it almost works!
But everything accelerates with the Second World War…
Who says war says convoys of supplies, food or equipment, and it is the English Hurricane Fighter pilots, of the RAF (= Royal Air Force), who must escort maritime convoys.
But the distance between the air base and the boat is too great for the autonomy of the planes. Churchill therefore proposed to perilously launch the Hurricanes from a boat with a catapult system .
The Sea Hurricane, the plane where it all began…
On the Ventile website, the brand says that the Hurricanes had no way of landing again on the boat, and therefore had to land, even though they were not seaplanes.
I find it very hard to believe that we were making single-use planes , incapable of landing on water without putting the safety of the pilots at risk, and that they were ready to risk their lives to this extent.
Despite my research, I was unable to find more details on this curious and dangerous procedure except on the Ventile website, but hey, let's move on.
Don's response
Don, who has delighted you with his articles on watches here and there , is also a great history enthusiast, and especially the Second World War.
So I asked him if he knew more about this story about planes that couldn't land.
Here is his response:
The Sea Hurricane:
Hot in front!
Finally a real aircraft carrier!
That's the end of the story: these planes did exist, but they were supposed to land on an air base. Landing was only considered in desperate situations.
Exactly, let's resume our story at the moment when a pilot crashes into the sea, and when water enters his cockpit...
Whether it was intended or not, these pilots had to survive contact with the icy water of the English Channel... or an even colder sea, until they were recovered.
However, as surprising as it may be, the subject of cold water immersion has only been taken seriously since the Second World War.
First patent in 1869 for a survival suit, too technologically advanced to be manufactured at the time.
We barely knew what caused death once in the water (hypothermia, but not only that). And we thought that it was inevitable, a “job risk”, to be accepted with good conscience.
It really wasn't a well-researched subject, with real scientific rigor and standard norms in conducting tests and experiments.
As a result, we cannot say that the different maritime countries around the world worked together very hard to find a solution. Even less so in a world war context where textile technologies were rudimentary, and where everything remained to be invented.
(And if you are really interested in survival in cold water, the French Society of Maritime Medicine has published a good summary here and our Canadian friends have made a nice video there )
The kind of graphic that was sorely lacking at the time!
Except that there, it was absolutely necessary to increase the chances of survival of an RAF pilot in cold water.
We needed a comfortable fabric to wear in the cockpit, which allows perspiration to pass through, but which becomes waterproof on contact with water.
After many tests, the Shirley Institute, a research center specially dedicated to cotton, developed the famous Ventile, this 100% waterproof cotton fabric .
From a few minutes, the chances of survival in the water increase to 20 minutes, giving rescuers much more time. 80% of the pilots were finally able to survive after their Hurricane landed, thanks to their Ventile cotton survival suit.
Today, RAF suits are still made of Ventile, as are those of other pilots from NATO countries.
Nice story, isn't it? It's all there: bravery, adventure, survival, military and innovation.
Except… impossible to get your hands on an RAF survival suit dating from the Second World War! And it is even possible that they never existed.
If Ventile survival suits during the Second World War certainly never existed, the RAF also made this superb Ventile parka in the 1950s, found by Saunders Militaria ... But it was for ground personnel!
The truth about Ventile?
It was the author of the excellent Well Dressed Dad who was the first to question “the official version”.
He claims that most of the stories surrounding Ventile are difficult to verify.
To put a face to a name, here is Nigel Cabourn, the creator who brought Ventile up to date. Moreover, Grailed did an excellent portrait of it .
In fact, the legend of Ventile owes a lot to Nigel Cabourn, an English designer passionate about Ventile and workwear. Its famous Ventile parka with a vintage design is the perfect illustration of its influences.
Nigel Cabourne's signature piece: it's a vintage parka all in Ventile. If you want an even more efficient Ventile parka, look at this one from Musto …
In 2003, to relaunch and mark the occasion, the brand called on Karol Marketing , a… (easy) marketing agency.
She decides to create a book, "Ascent of Cabourne" which is inspired by " Ascent of Everest ", by John Hunt. And it is in this book that Cabourne explains the origin of Ventile in his own way (the 2nd World War, pilots in the water, etc.).
The original…
…and the remastered version for Nigel Cabourn, where the legend of Ventile began.
Its source ? He claims to have a friend who helped invent Ventile and that it has been in mass production since 1943.
My personal theory is that, given that it was a marketing agency that created this book for promotional purposes, and that does not specialize in fashion, it is likely that some specific details escaped them and/or that They only stuck to Cabourne's assertions .
The whole, very romanticized story of Ventile comes from there.
But then, what is the true origin of Ventile? Where is he from ? The investigation is not over...
(ah, this suspense!)
One element of a reliable answer comes from a document as unexpected as it is surprising : in 2003, the Marine Safety Directorate of Transport Canada commissioned a comprehensive report on survival in cold water .
Yes, it is this document with a layout worthy of Microsoft Publisher which offers the most convincing elements of answers.
And as the two official languages of Canada are English and French, all public and administrative documents must be translated into French . So you can also read this report in French !
Well, the translation is… rustic (Ventile was translated as “ventilated cotton fabric”), but… “it works” , that was not translated using Google Translate.
The very rigorous authors note that survival suit test reports regularly fall into oblivion , whether because of the closure of a military laboratory, the end of a war, etc.
They therefore decided, once and for all, to provide a complete history of survival suits over the past 60 years , for future researchers on the subject.
And it’s exciting! Everything is very well documented and rigorously sourced.
Concerning our Ventile survival suits, the truth appears in chapter 2 : the survival suits of Hurricane pilots were made of leather... during the Second World War. Their inventor was also called Frankenstein, you can't make that up.
It was not until after the war that RAF suits were made from Ventile.
More precisely, the first six so-called "Mk" suits were made in neoprene, then it was from the Mk 7 versions that they were made in Ventile, just after the war, from 1951.
It's written in black and white.
This is an RAF survival suit, but it was created well after the Second World War. It will cost you around €90 , if you ever want to frame it at home!
The use of Ventile allowed perspiration to escape through the gaps in the fibers when the fabric was dry, but once in water, the fibers swelled and blocked the passage of water, making the fabric waterproof.
There were also two layers of fabric , because because of the pressure of the water, we noticed that the water was passing through the Ventile without the fibers having time to swell.
Another problem: the fabric was very expensive to produce on a large scale (taking a long time to manufacture), it was also expensive to assemble as a suit. In addition, body sebum and heavy sweating could disrupt the swelling power of the fiber when wet.
Other more general obstacles have undermined the future of Ventile in survival suits: difficulty in finding perfectly waterproof zips, quality control that can largely be improved, etc.
So the RAF decided, for a time, to use so-called “wet” suits, where a little bit of water is let in to warm it up, exactly like a surfing or diving suit.
(and at the end of the story, it was the rise of offshore oil platforms that finally allowed the creation of effective survival suits)
A so-called “wet” neoprene survival suit that makes you look like a teletubbie. Ok, it's more efficient, but the Ventile wetsuits were still much classier!
Ultimately, the Ventile was indeed used for RAF survival suits but only after the Second World War , and was then replaced for very mundane reasons: cost, difficulty to assemble, etc.
On the other hand – and this is really badass – Edmund Hillary really used Ventile clothing for his ascent of Everest in 1953.
Before Gore-Tex, exceptional mountaineers wore Ventile!
If Ventile was not fully satisfactory for making survival suits in icy water, I assure you that in urban use, it is a material that largely keeps its promises . Because yes, the RAF still tested Ventile survival suits!
The acquisition of Ventile by Stotz
Stotz , to put it simply, is Ventile of Swiss origin. Their flagship product, Etaproof is also a 100% cotton fabric that is intended to be waterproof (it is the one that Acronym and Enfin Levé sometimes use for techwear pants and jackets for example).
Etaproof is a very, very, very similar product to Ventile, so much so that it has become difficult to differentiate the two... especially since Stotz bought Ventile!
Even techwear is appropriating 100% waterproof cotton fabrics like Enfin Levé and this jacket made from Stotz fabric, the parent company of Ventile.
Indeed, in the 1990s, the British Ministry of Defense struggled to satisfy its demand for a 100% waterproof cotton fabric due to the decline of English textiles. So they decided to contact Stotz, which already supplied 100% cotton for the Scandinavian and American armies.
The English were very happy with Stotz and it was logical that the Swiss manufacturer became the ideal candidate to buy Ventile.
In 2017, Stotz fully acquired the Ventile brand to expand its Etaproof fabric range.
Do you understand why we chose this material for our mac? Besides, let’s talk more about it!
Ventile: a 100% cotton full of resources
His weighty argument? It is a very rain-resistant and breathable material made from 100% cotton . Compared to Gore-Tex, it changes a lot of things.
It breathes! Since it is a fabric, and not a membrane, air can pass naturally between the gaps. Especially since our mac is not lined (only in the upper back), it is therefore a light piece where air can circulate easily. We are very far from a rubber raincoat or a trench coat with a thick lining.
Under the armpits, we have also added two ventilation eyelets to effectively wick away moisture.
Moreover, in the prestigious book “ Waterproof and Water Repellent Textiles and Clothing ”, the authors claim that Ventile can be considered the very first breathable AND waterproof fabric.
But at the same time, since the weave is tight, Ventile is windproof and "cancels" the cooling effect of the wind.
The interest of 100% cotton is also its appearance: it absolutely does not look like a synthetic material , but rather like a good old cotton gabardine. The look is therefore more elegant and urban!
100% cotton with a beautiful appearance! It looks nothing like a technical fabric!
Ventile also highlights the lifespan of its material, and given the “compact” hand of the fabric, we want to believe them.
Another important point: the noise! Since it is 100% cotton, the mac does not make any noise when moving , there is no crunchy noise ( crispy as our English friends would say) characteristic of Gore-Tex.
Think about the noise your cotton clothes make: chinos, shirt, jacket... Well, it's the same. This is why it is a subject very popular with ornithology enthusiasts (when you like to study birds!) or those who record sound in nature.
And above all, of course, Ventile is also a very useful material against the rain.
There is nothing simpler to wear as a material!
Ventile and water
We have seen it: when the material becomes wet, the water causes the cotton fibers to swell, and since the weave is very tight, this prevents the water from passing through.
This is how the material becomes “waterproof”.
It sounds simple like that, but to have a very compact weave, you need extrafine fibers from Supima cotton, grown in the United States, which represents barely 2% of world cotton production.
It is therefore this alloy of very fine fibers and a very dense weave which gives all the properties to Ventile.
This is Ventile in very close-up. On the right, when the fabric is wet, the fibers swell and prevent water from passing through.
The cotton is spun in Germany and the threads then go to Switzerland to be woven into a finished product.
My mini test protocol
I did the following test: I ran some Ventile under water, and I rubbed vigorously with my finger to try to get the water to penetrate the fabric, and make it pass through the compact weave.
Well, it really took a good 5 minutes of scrubbing under tap water for the material to become barely damp on the other side. I had to press really hard for the water to painfully pass through the weave.
It is therefore clear that in a downpour, the Ventile will fulfill its role perfectly, there is no doubt about that.
A material full of surprises!
Myself, having endured heavy downpours with a 100% cotton Acronym jacket worn for over 2 years, I was very pleasantly surprised by the performance, I who only swore by the welded seams and technical membranes.
It really takes a huge 45 minute downpour for the inside of the fabric to become barely damp.
Bottom line: it really works.
(On the other hand, this mac is not a water survival suit, do not take it as a replacement for a Helly Hansen "Aegir" suit , it will not work)
With the mac closed, you will be protected from the sea spray near your favorite lighthouse.
So why don’t we see more Ventile in brands? This is unfortunately because of a relentless equation:
Expensive Supima cotton + spinning in Germany + weaving and finishing in Switzerland = expensive fabric.
And therefore, its use makes the smallest piece very expensive: for example, look at the prices of Ventile pieces from Private White VC , a superb English brand.
To give you an idea of the price, a classic cotton twill, without the properties of Ventile, purchased in Italy or Spain, is between two and four times cheaper than Ventile.
As a result, it is a great source of pride for us to offer a Ventile part at a more accessible price thanks to our economic model without intermediaries.
So this is why we chose Ventile for this mac. Now let's see the finishes we wanted...
The finishes of our mac in Ventile
The months and years go by and you still appreciate having zippered pockets to keep your belongings safe.
Here, we have not deviated from our rule, and unlike other macs, the two exterior pockets have a zip, not visible thanks to the flap. The same goes for the two interior pockets, they are also zipped.
So your headphones, your papers, your keys will be safe!
One of four zipped pockets. This is the inside pocket.
As usual, the horn buttons on this piece!
At the sleeve level, you can tighten it using two buttons.
The straps and shoulder lining are made of chambray made from a blend of cotton and modal.
It is this sewing game that allows the collar to hold up well.
Here, it is a counter button which allows you to reinforce the seam of the horn button, on the outside.
How to get our Mac and our other new products for June?
Visit our e-shop or in our stores .
