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When Miuccia Prada proposes a new idea on the runway, the world listens, and for spring/summer 2024, the designer introduced the barn jacket as the outerwear style to covet. Worn-in styles in navy, khaki, brown and hunter green were layered atop tasselled and sheer skirts, offering a “walking the dog” nonchalance to the directional separates.
While barn jackets have seen a noticeable uptick, the hype has been bubbling up for a some time. A year prior to Prada’s endorsement, Jonathan Anderson debuted cropped, waxed-cotton jackets with checked linings – reminiscent of Barbour jackets – at Loewe’s spring/summer 2024 show, which mimicked the sculptural silhouettes of his micro-hemline minidresses.
Carhartt WIP’s workaday Detroit jacket, meanwhile, has been a mainstay in celebrity and supermodel wardrobes for several years, and it recently claimed fifth spot in Lyst’s hottest product index for Q1 (searches were 410 per cent compared to the last few months).
Beyond the Detroit, Carhartt WIP stocks several versions that are directly inspired by the original chore jackets – Carhartt, the original workwear company founded in 1889, before the WIP offshoot launched in 1994, was behind styles first released in the 1920s. The modern reinterpretations, which come courtesy of both high street and designer brands, offer nods to the classic design, for example the corduroy collar, multiple pockets and metal poppered buttons. See: The Row’s slouchy Frank jacket, Toteme’s quilted iteration, Mackintosh’s waxed Blair jacket and Uniqlo’s utility jacket (from the men’s department). Note you can also find tempting secondhand versions on resale sites, such eBay, Vinted and Depop.
Scroll on for more of the best barn jackets that will fit seamlessly into your spring wardrobe, whether worn with jeans and tank tops, skirts or dresses.
This article was originally published on British Vogue.
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