The coat decree

The coat, once a protective outer garment for the outdoors, has recently taken on completely new meanings. That doesn't release him from his core tasks!

The coat has had to be used for all sorts of things lately. A selection: The “Shell Decree” currently refers to a federal law on secure power supply; a shell company offers a quick alternative to setting up a company; the core use describes a building purpose outside of the core tasks; the standard tariff offers guidance in quarrels with employees; The editorial shell is now spread across all regional newspapers and the shell concrete is a contemporary construction method for walls in which cavities are filled in later.

Coats everywhere. Just not really on the street. The jackets are in the majority right now. It's a shame, because a coat like this that wraps itself protectively around and over everything is an unsurpassed argument. Even in the man's wardrobe. The designers, equipped with a sensorium for current events, have noticed this. Coats have credit again in the avant-garde, you can see them in large numbers on the international catwalks - so it's only a matter of time before the normal man in our latitudes warms up to them again. Literally!

Gogol's story, filmed in 1952 under the original title "Il Cappotto" by Alberto Lattuada, shows how important a coat is: The simple employee Carmine, disappointed by the realities of life, wants nothing more than a new coat but is denied him for financial reasons. Through a fateful observation, he suddenly comes into money - and with it an appointment with the tailor and his "cappotto", who opens the gates to society for him. Until it is stolen. Which brings Carmine to her grave.

Fashion hardly has such destructive power these days. But: A coat can still build you up. When you walk through the city with a coat on, you are with yourself, protected and protected... with your hands deep in your pockets, your collar turned up to your ears. But if it gets warm and you feel like it, you open the coat, put your hand in your trouser pocket and look like a style king from the best days of Armani, when coats were still the ultimate in wearing skills.

A coat like this has flair, elegance, style, nonchalance... but unlike jackets, it doesn't convey the casual feeling of a revolutionary and outlaw, but still has the taste of a classic successful guy - after all, a coat is in a class of its own when it comes to material consumption and tailoring skills the man's most expensive and finest piece. Wool-alpaca blends for a buttery-soft feel are popular: Casentino fabrics (nodules on fleece), simple redingotes or masculine double-breasted suits.

So buy a coat NOW. For now – and for the next fifteen years. Because a good coat should accompany you for such a time. Your new coat should not only reliably protect you from wind and weather, but also meet your personal needs and style. Choose one of eight new seasonal (over)coat fabrics or the tried-and-tested Loro Piana Storm System fabrics that combine function and elegance.

Jeroen van Rooijen is a style critic and columnist, writes for international newspapers and magazines and was co-founder of the Alferano concept store in Zurich in 2015.