It could be argued that designers are one of the biggest hoarders in the game, take a quick glance at our very own David Keyte's ‘archive’ collection and you may soon agree! Known for picking up postcards, objects and whatever excites him along the way, David is forever taking in inspiration around the clock.
A few years back, David visited perhaps one of the USA's most iconic flea markets, based at The Rose Bowl Stadium in LA. It was there that a navy uniform jacket attracted his attention. It had all of the hallmarks of a jacket James Dean would have worn 50 years ago, with a huge patch pocket on the front and cropped at the waist, he had to get it!
After much research (but not much success), we took a closer at the vintage jacket. The embroidered red letter ‘R’ on the front suggested that this may have been a uniform jacket as opposed to a military kit. It is made from a dense weave cavalry twill wool which was typical in uniforms of the ’50s, the cropped shape, and the metal ‘Talon’ zipper would also be expected at this time.
David wanted to recreate the vintage jacket, keeping all the qualities he admired such as the huge front pockets, large flat collar and boxy structure/shape. But he updated and improved the fit whilst adding some contemporary details such as the double-ended zip. For the fabric, he chose a UW favorite, corduroy, available in navy and mustard in a thick 8 wale. And that is how the UW Rose Bowl jacket came about.
If you have any further information on the origins of the original jacket feel free to drop us an email at Web@universalworks.co.uk.
