Junya Watanabe Goes Big on Baracuta's Harrington
Baracuta’s G9 Harrington is a legend in the world of jackets.
Initially created as a golf jacket in the early 1930s, the Harrington — with its Fraser tartan lining and water-repellent coating — is a bonafide OG that’s been donned by some of the greats, including real-life genuine 007.
The term “essential” can often be overused, in fashion especially, but when it comes to the Baracuta Harrington, it’s actually pretty accurate.
Lightweight, breathable, and fairly subtle in its overall design (excuse the inner tartan, of course), it’s a jacket that deserves all the plaudits that come its way. Period.
That fact the jacket’s build hasn’t changed throughout its almost-one hundred year tenure is a testament to both its design and functionality, with tweaks and alterations only really seen in Baracuta’s myriad of collaborations — which is why we’re here today.
Following link-ups in recent years with the likes of Engineered Garments, BYBORRE, and mastermind JAPAN, Baracuta now invites Japanese designer and Comme des Garçons protégé Junya Watanabe to take a swing at the iconic jacket.
Typically for Watanabe, he seldom does things by the book. For this collaboration, the designer has deconstructed the Harrington in all its aspects, and reassembled following the latest trends of luxury fashion using different fabrics.
Tweaked in both silhouette and texture, the jacket’s fit has even been altered, as Watanabe envisions an oversized G9.
In essence, Junya Watanabe for Baracuta — which is available online now for £1,325 — is an entirely fresh approach to a British heritage classic, and one that’s been reinvented and reimagined through a highly innovative (and very Watanabe) design aesthetic. Poetry.
