Few places do luxury like Italy. From Milan Fashion Week to the glossy waters of Amalfi, the very mention of its cobbled cities and Mediterranean coasts evokes enviable images of beauty and glamor in the minds of the super-fashionable to the super-rich. Many of the world’s biggest heritage brands and designers are here; and with craftsmanship, subtler opulence, and quality manufacturing very much en vogue for 2024, Italian style is where it’s at. High-caliber materials, timelessness, wearability, and refinement are often the markers of a good garment today—without appearing stuffy, of course.
Jacob Cohën is the best of both worlds. Technically founded in 1985 but only rebooted properly in 2003 by Nicola Bardelle, the brand has all the flexibility and creative thinking typical of its youth. But its approach to luxury—and denim especially—feels traditional, more that of a centuries-old family business than one that’s been around for two decades. As an example, each pair of jeans is still handmade in the same workshops which saw the birth of the brand in the 80s—and the Veneto region, the location of those workshops, has become a center for Italian denim production as a result. Further, it’s all made on vintage looms, which the brand says lends their garments an unparalleled feel and comfort. It’s these kinds of approaches that have earned Jacob Cohën a seat at the high fashion table so quickly.
This year, the brand is exploring the landscapes and heritage of its origin country quite literally, taking its customers on a journey through the “bel paese.” These travels, represented in new collections, metaphorise passages of various types: from grand journeys through history, through culture, through a lifetime, to something as quotidian as a summer holiday trip. The idea is that these pieces will accompany the Jacob Cohën wearer—who is, naturally discerning, international, intelligent—on whatever their quest may be.
For the Resort collection, three colors represent three iconic Italian locations. There’s blue for Portofino, with its coloured houses and superyachts lining the harbor; yellow for Capri, with its tranquil, island living; and pink for Taormina, with its scorching Sicilian climes. A journey through Italy from North to South, these three colors are echoed throughout the collection. They’re transcribed onto swim shorts which literalize the motif of journeying through prints of a recognizable location and form of public transport for each stop along the way. The pink Taormina shorts, for example, boast a print of the town’s Greek theater as well as a cute Fiat 500.
The pieces may not all be denim—although elsewhere you’ll find a new wash of jeans and some cleanly cut jackets—but they serve just as well to represent the trajectory of Jacob Cohën. It’s clear that what the brand is selling extends beyond jeans. The Jacob Cohën package is the full Mediterranean dream: freedom, comfort, exploration, and effortless luxury. Hardly in its early 20s, the brand and its customers continue to cover new ground, making journeys that are at once bespoke, modern, and quintessentially Italian.
Jacob Cohën's SS24 collection is available online now.
