Why a collaboration with Aigle?
Aigle is a brand I thought I knew. I imagined collections very sportswear/outdoor oriented, with fairly loose cuts.
And actually, I was wrong!
In recent years, Aigle has begun a real shift in its collections. But before discussing the current collections, let's start by talking about past collections...
As you saw in Aigle has developed since 1853 its famous “know how to protect” (and not “know how to protect”), which consists of offering protection to the wearers of its products. If the basic goal was to protect the feet thanks to their boots, the “know how to protect” has moved back into the silhouette. And it was in 1989 that Aigle launched its first ready-to-wear clothes.
Aigle ad from 1935. The brand was called "À l'Aigle", in reference to the American eagle.
The rest, you know it. They became known for their technical clothing, but not really for their cuts or their inspirations. And little by little, the brand acquired (despite itself?) a brand image of functional clothing, but not really “fashion”.
Except that Aigle, well aware of its important heritage, was determined to change things... So they recruited a new artistic director, Gideon Day.
Gideon Day, a designer who combines fashion and workwear heritage
A charismatic man, he is passionate about workwear (he says his uniform is the denim jacket), and cutting-edge Japanese brands. In short, he likes robust, simple and timeless pieces!
His goal was to refocus the brand, which said too many things at the time: was it a boot brand? Technical parkas? Only outdoor clothing? The message had to be clarified.
Then, Gideon thought it was a shame that the function of the clothing systematically came before the design. He therefore wanted to put these elements on an equal footing.
He therefore infused much more fantasy into the collections, for example by introducing patterns, particularly camo. Moreover, certain pieces could very well have their place in the lookbook of a high-end designer.
A camo pattern reinterpreted in an Eagle style!
Gideon was particularly inspired by vintage clothing designs, in order to reinforce the “heritage” side of Aigle. The brand has changed a lot over the past few years, and we didn't realize it.
And in 2013, that's when I learned about the brand's changes, with the very beautiful capsule collection at Center Commercial (the multi-brand store of the creators of Veja ).
Another great collaboration then arrived, Aigle x Nigel Cabourn , a British designer known to fans of vintage workwear.
Here is one piece among 7 from the collaboration between Aigle and Center Commercial: the heritage waxed cotton jacket.
The collaboration with Nigel Cabourn, with a lot of work on the materials, and a fairly strong design with this mix of colors.
The summer collection, which is arriving in stores, pushes the designer side even further, with the use of quite daring patterns for such a mainstream French brand.
I invite you to watch his video interview for more details on this subject.
We really appreciated this return from Aigle to more timeless, more natural designs. And clearly, there were a lot of things to explore at the brand. This was the first step towards our collaboration.
Why a safari jacket?
We could logically have done a collaboration on a pair of boots, but personally, I don't wear rubber boots, and I had difficulty seeing how this piece would fit into our vision of the men's wardrobe.
We therefore needed a useful piece of clothing that, as usual, could fit into a variety of looks. That's how we came up with the idea of a safari jacket.
The famous Clark Gable wears a safari jacket in Mogambo in 1953.
This is a particularly interesting garment for us, because it was initially designed with two important considerations:
- Elegance : in fact, it is a garment that had its first hours of glory in the cinema of the 30s and 50s! It was then Yves Saint Laurent who made it a cult fashion garment, but we will talk about that in a future article. Its dressy look comes from the proportions very similar to that of a blazer, which is why a look with a shirt and tie goes very well.
Being able to wear a safari jacket with a formal outfit is what makes me smile! BG x Aigle safari jacket, Husbands shirt and tie, Howard's tie clip.
- Functionality: it is basically a military garment, which explains the presence of 4 pockets on the front. But we pushed the functionality by adding three pockets inside! So it's an extremely practical piece of clothing when you go out in the city, because you can put everything in it: identity papers, driving license, keys, wallet, headphones, and I think you can even find room for a pocket book 😉 The safari jacket is also useful when traveling (you know, when you're stressed about having misplaced your papers in a pants pocket...).
Successively, we see the interior zipped chest pocket, the drawstring for the waist and another interior snap pocket. Handy if you don't want to mix salt and pepper for your next picnic!
It’s really this mix of smart and timeless design, with functionalities that are still very useful in our time, that interested us. Because at BonneGueule, you know that we like urban clothing with a technical dimension!
We therefore have urban AND waterproof clothing , which protects your hairstyle from nasty downpours.
And it's not John Rambo who will say the opposite. There are quite a few references between the safari jacket and military field jackets , with all their pockets and drawstring at the waist.
Technical materials, without appearing to be so
The safari jacket is made of lightly waxed polycotton , a classic for this type of piece. And what we call a “liner”, located between the polycotton and the lining.
Concretely, this liner is an MTD technical membrane (it looks like a very light film) which ensures the waterproofness of the piece, but while keeping it breathable, to prevent you from becoming a walking sauna as soon as you move a little.
It's the oilcloth that makes the safari jacket water-repellent...
Each BGA-01 safari jacket comes with a small piece of the MTD membrane (for Micro Tech Developpement) so you can see what it looks like.
First of all, know that we have extensively tested the safari jacket in rainy situations, and it is truly waterproof, even in a good downpour .
Three layers: water repellency, waterproofing, breathability
The first layer: a relatively water-repellent waxed polycotton
Water runs off the material instead of soaking in. It is already an effective first defense against the rain.
In addition to water repellency , waxed cotton has some interesting properties that we were able to test at the Aigle laboratory (see the presentation video):
It has very good resistance to addiction. From a technical point of view, it has a resistance to tearing forces between 15 and 17 newtons . To give you a comparison, at Aigle, hunting jackets have a resistance to forces between 18 and 20 newtons. The safari jacket is therefore almost as durable as a hunting jacket, and much more than a simple cotton summer jacket.
This is thanks to its blend of cotton (65%), polyester (28%) and polyamide (7%).
Here is a tear meter from the Aigle site laboratory in Châtellerault, which measures the resistance of the fabric to tearing.
It also resists abrasion very well . Moreover, the test is quite funny to see: we weigh a piece of fabric on an ultra-precise scale (to 5 zeros after the decimal point), so much so that the slightest draft can influence the weighing!
It is for this reason that transparent walls prevent the slightest movement of air from "pressing" on the fabric during weighing. Once the weight is noted, we will place this piece of fabric in a machine which will “rub” it for several hours.
Then the piece of fabric is weighed again, and the weight lost during friction corresponds to the abrasion index. For example, 10% abrasion is tolerated on a shirt fabric over 10,000 cycles for three hours (one cycle can be compared to friction). On the fabric of the safari jacket, there was... 0% loss over 30,000 cycles , over a 9 hour test!
Far be it from me to say that the fabric is totally hard-wearing and bulletproof (it's not a Kevlar safari jacket either), but let's say very simply that you can sit against a chair as much as you want with the safari jacket, It’s probably your back that will be worn out first . 0% fat, 0% abrasion, same fight!
Here is the abrasion machine, which tortures the material all day long.
A waterproof and breathable MTD membrane
Let's come to the second layer. In the event of very heavy rain, the MTD membrane takes over and permanently stops the water, which will never come into contact with the lining. It’s thanks to it that you stay dry!
This membrane allows water vapor to pass through to evacuate perspiration, but stops all liquid water, thanks to a sufficiently fine porous microscopic structure .
And we finish with a lining
Then comes a technical polyester lining, relatively classic on this type of piece. It is mainly there for your comfort and to protect the MTD membrane.
Why this beige color?
It was clear that we wanted beige, simply because it is the historic color of the safari jacket .
It's an interesting color, which we had never worked on for a summer piece, even though it is the main color of many clothes to wear in hot countries, including military clothing .
It will go well with white or blue underneath (in fact, any casual shirt color).
The cup
For the fit of this collaboration, we started from scratch: it's a completely new cut on this safari jacket, which did not initially exist at Aigle. I would also like to thank from the bottom of my heart the Aigle teams who gave us carte blanche on the fit (and who were very patient throughout my numerous requests).
Uniqlo sweatshirt, De Fursac jeans, derby from a Florentine artisan (whose name Luca has forgotten).
We absolutely wanted an urban and contemporary piece, because while I was just starting to take an interest in men's fashion, I was very impressed by the look of the famous " safari jackets " by Dior Homme released around ten years ago. of years.
The cut therefore had to be modern, precise, and refined.
Here, I removed the hood and only fastened one button, to accentuate the blazer look. Husbands shirt and tie, Howard's tie clip, BGJL jeans, Atelier Voisin ankle boots.
Compared to Aigle's usual cuts, the shoulders have been raised, as has the armhole which is higher. The arms as well as the bust also received their weight loss treatment.
As I said above, the length is that of a blazer, in order to clearly emphasize the urban side of the safari jacket.
High-end finishes
In terms of finishes, we wanted to make a little nod to “designer finishes” by densifying the number of sewing stitches per centimeter , and bringing them closer to the borders (pockets for example).
I find the look more refined and more urban (in fact, outdoor pieces often have spaced seams).
We can see the pen pocket on the left, but above all the sewing stitches are tight (for an outdoor piece) and close to the edge. This gives more visual finesse.
If you look closely at the photos, you will see that there is a double metal zip, which adds ease at the bottom when the safari jacket is closed. Very practical for two wheels or when you are sitting!
We also see a slanted chest pocket, which makes it easier to access with the right hand. It's a detail that Geoffrey was very keen on, just like the pen pocket on the chest.
For those with a fetish for very fitted clothing, there is a drawstring inside that allows you to adjust it further!
Finally, there is a detail that I really like: a small flap at the hood, which hides the zip behind the neck to keep an urban design.
Where is the safari jacket made?
The safari jacket is made in China, quite simply because that is where the know-how in technical textiles is located ( Patagonia , Fjällräven and Aether Apparel manufacture a good part of their ranges there).
There are many cutting-edge textile engineers working there (you understand that few people in France master the technology of heat-sealed seams, for example).
In the 80s and 90s, China was unable to compete with European spinning mills in high-end natural materials (wool and cotton), so it invested heavily in technical materials, and today it is the leading country in high-end technical tailoring.
But we have already developed our opinion on Made in China at length (the article had its little hour of buzz at the time of its publication, read it!).
How to choose your size ?
The safari jacket has an extremely classic size.
I wear an M almost everywhere, but the M suits me perfectly at Aigle (the S is really too small for me, and the L is too big).
For those who are more anxious, we have prepared a measurement table for you, to come on the presentation page... But really, you don't have to worry about the size. I therefore emphasize that you simply have to choose your usual size.
How to get the BonneGueule x Aigle safari jacket?
The safari jacket is now available in the Atelier BonneGueule .
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment!
