The shirt jacket as a style continues to find its popularity amongst Clients and has established itself across the menswear market as a more youthful alternative to a sportscoat, with its tailored aspect. The softness of the shirt jacket is part of its appeal, with natural shoulder and armhole, falling off the body rather than the way a tailored jacket would strengthen the shoulder and cinch more at the waist. However, based on stylist feedback and for those looking to clean up the waist, we have added the waist and hip adjustment to the shirt jacket as an added way to fit to a Client’s preference. We have also added the possibility to use suiting buttons as a further way for him to personalize his Shirt Jacket. We did exclude the MOP (mother of pearl) from this due to some of the problems some Clients have with being more delicate with the natural material of mother of pearl, similar to glass. As an outerwear piece, we realize that this may be thrown around a little more than a sportscoat, so we want to avoid the heightened possibility of button damage until we introduce a new faux MOP for suiting later in the season.

The suiting vest is now available to buy individually, outside of an extra to a suit, enabling those wanting mix and match possibilities, but the bigger introduction is what we have called the “fashion vest”. This new style uses the new and improved block of the vest but is available in a broader range of fabrics, including what we would call more traditionally sportscoat-only fabrics. I particularly love the look of a vest and sportscoat pairing worn back to a casual pant opening up some new looks that capture traditional menswear worn in a modern way. Whilst I am not a fan of a vest replacing a sportscoat as a look, I think wearing a vest on its own takes a certain confidence and doesn’t suit all body types particularly well. Worn under a sportscoat, it adds a statement for those more stand-out Clients.

Another important update made after requests from our field leaders was to update our unique Windstopper style/option. As a go-to piece that sits well between sportscoat and outerwear, the windstopper has proven itself as a cold-weather style that Clients love to have as part of their J.Hilburn wardrobe. It’s difficult to categorize the windstopper, but its truly hybrid nature is what makes it modern and relevant in a world where we are all looking for versatility from our wardrobe and maximizing wearability from individual pieces. Our design challenge was to create the flexibility of interchangeable fronts and a new hooded front option that Stylists had been requesting. To do so, we have redesigned the old zip-out method to a new button-out mechanism for ease and consistency when wanting multiple ways to wear this style. From a vest front in the same shell fabric, to an Eco-tech contrast vest front to the same shell fabric hooded version, all are now available as separate individual pieces to purchase within the same order, and we are currently working on them to be purchased separately to add, going forward.