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Mister Freedom® HEADQUARTERS Jacket, Yarn-dyed wool & Horsehide leather.
FW2018 mfsc Surplus collection.
Made in Japan.
Call them varsity jackets, letterman jackets, award jackets, baseball jackets… or “teddy” as they are referred to in France, here is the Mister Freedom® twist on this all-American classic. The tradition of outfitting meriting high school and college students with a lettered garment appears to be historically anchored in Harvard’s original baseball team of 1865… Apparently, the ritual of customizing one’s sport sweater with the varsity’s emblem and school colors extended to wool or leather-sleeved jackets sometime in the 1930’s.
American letterman jackets have gone through a few style variations though the years, raglan sleeves, all-wool bodies, hoods for the ladies, …, but the characteristic chenille and felt letter patches have always remained, and are today a staple of vintage Americana. The trademark contrasting leather sleeves of the classic models have gone through a questionable vinyl period in the 1980’s, as the rack of used letterman jackets of your local vintage store will attest to.
Your favorite local vintage pile o’ rags, if you lived around 7161 Beverly Blvd., LA, CA 90036, USA.(Check out Sly in 1974 in “The Lords of Flatbush”!)
We, as often, took liberties with authenticity when designing our own letterman-style jacket, twisting the concept into more of a cool “club jacket” than a sport jock uniform per-se. More Fonzy than Ritchie. Like The Lords of Flatbush meet The Wanderers, with a Camp Pendleton twist…
There is indeed a military vibe to our “Club House” jacket, aka MF® HEADQUARTERS jacket. Probably due to the choice of the olive green yarn-dyed body, a hefty wool fabric found on vintage US Army coats, matched by 1940’s tanker jacket olive green knit cuffs and collar, all borrowed from Buzz Rickson’s outstanding mil-specs trim ressources. Buzz also supplied the HBT cotton “Duck Hunter” M1942 reversible camo (aka “Frogskin”) we lined the horsehide leather sleeves with. The slash pockets are also intricately lined with frogskin, subtly displaying both jungle/beach contrasting camo sides, a pattern-making and tailoring prowess if you look at how it’s constructed. The pocket openings are trimmed with the same cognac brown-colored horsehide leather that pairs so-well with the olive green wool, a color combination we’ve always found attractive.
We opted for an early baseball jacket pattern, featuring 1930’s-40’s style button-front closure, as opposed to the later, more typical, snap button versions of the 1960’s and 70’s. The choice of unlined construction with impeccably-taped seams is also a reference to early sportswear and outdoor jackets, and old-school manufacturing savoir-faire.
For the custom MF® HQ “branding” treatment, we reached out to Toyo Enterprise’s renown Whitesville label and its varsity-related manufacturing expertise to produce authentic-looking chenille patches, done the old-fashion way. We stayed pretty conservative with the M & F letters design, but the chainstitched leather skull on felt chest patch is quite a rare combination on vintage letterman jackets.
The back of our clubhouse jacket features an irresistible MF® script all-star chainstitch job, as extra eye crack and immediate conversation-starter while in line at the DMV.
An early original R&D sketch of the MF® HEADQUARTERS jacket ©2018
The MF® HEADQUARTERS jacket is designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in Japan by Sugar Cane Co and the expert Toyo Enterprise team.
SPECS:
FABRIC:
Body: Olive 36 Oz. yarn-dyed 100% wool, milled in Japan.
Sleeves: Cognac brown genuine horsehide leather.
Sleeve and pocket lining: HBT cotton “Duck Hunter” M1942 reversible camo aka “Frogskin”, milled in Japan.
DETAILS:
* An original mfsc pattern inspired by vintage varsity jackets and early baseball-type jackets.
* Featuring all-original MF® artwork and decoration.
* Genuine horsehide leather sleeves and pocket trims.
* Mil-specs wool knit cuffs and knit collar.
* Old-school arm gusset.
* Unlined body construction featuring attractive taped inside seams, with 1930’s-style narrow-width olive green cotton tape.
* Frogskin camo accents on inner sleeves and slash pocket lining.
* Made in Japan.
SIZING/FIT:
The MF® HEADQUARTERS jacket comes unwashed, and should stay that way. The jacket is ready-to-wear as-is, without any initial protocol. For those familiar with it, the sizing is that of Toyo’s Whitesville stadium jackets. I opted for a size 36 for a trim, balanced fit. The size 38 looked a bit too ‘contemporary’ on me, for my own taste.
Please refer to sizing chart to figure which size will work for you.
CHART
CARE:
If needed, spot cleaning only. Professional cleaning from an eco-friendly facility.
Do not attend to have the whole jacket laundered or dry-cleaned, even from a place that claims to specialize in leather garments. The leather horsehide sleeves can be conditioned after years of wear and exposure to the elements, using professional leather conditioners made for garments (not shoes), such as Pecard products. An attractive natural patina will develop on the sleeves, filled with nicks, stains and character typical of well-worn quality leather garments.
Do not machine wash this jacket!
Available fully-customized.
Sizes
36 Small
38 Medium
40 Large
42 X-Large
44 XX-Large
Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles HQ of course, and fine retailers around the World.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support.
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom®
©2018
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