Men’s Fashion Trend – Quilting

I was reading through the new ASOS men’s magazine recently and saw that they had done a little spread on men’s quilted clothing. Now I heard that this was going to be a big trend for the new season, but it hasn’t really taken off and I think this is because people are very unsure about it as a concept. Junya Watanabe, Dolce and Gabbana and Gareth Pugh were the major fashion houses behind the trend, and if you take a look at the picks, you will see some of the high street brands getting on board as well. I for one do not know whether it is something I will be adding to my wardrobe – although I have seen some great examples of outfits with the quilted jacket featured.

The reason I am unsure is because quilting reminds me of the puffa jacket, and a lot of very unfashionable youths I used to know when I was about 16! By design, quilting also adds unnecessary bulk to your outfit and look - which as you should know is a real error when trying to layer. It counters this by being the last piece that you would throw on over the top of your outfit, but you would really have to make sure that all your other layers are true lightweight construction to give you the skinnier frame to start with.

The other problem lies with the fact that quilted jackets are generally associated with farmers and I can’t shake this image out of my head. The way I would personally do quilting would be to look for thinner versions that don’t add to much bulk to your frame – definitely don’t stray to the true puffa varieties. Also look for classic colours like brown, navy and black as these will have a more fashion edge than a green farmer jacket! It would be great to see if the wet look or nylon type jackets are available because I saw Kanye rocking one of these recently, but cannot find a decent picture to show you on the Internet at the current time.

If I was going to do quilting I would go for black because it would definitely look edgier within a casual outfit. I can imagine dressing it up with skinny/slim jeans, throwing on some hi-tops or boots and then going to town on the top half layering. Start with lightweight essentials, so a thin cotton v-neck, lightweight check shirt or cardigan and then the jacket thrown on over the top. Now I am thinking about it more I think this could work - I am talking myself into the whole thing!

Look below for the quilted jackets I have found from around the web so far. If there is some interest or I can think of how to do it effectively, this might be my next look book on Friday.

Quilted Fashion Items

Main Stream Brands

Premium Designer Brands

CP Company and Stone Island
These have really got behind the trend and some of these below are great. I particularly like the CP Company black bomber which has really subtle quilting and doesn’t look bulky at all.