The Endurance of the Utility Jacket

Our new Utility Jacket is an undisputed highlight of the Autumn Winter 2022 collection. It’s a classically styled garment with humble roots, designed with purpose and practicality in mind - and that timeless combination makes it as indispensable today as it was when it was originally designed, nearly two hundred years ago in 19th century France.

The traditional French worker’s jacket in the late 19th century was a boxy, unstructured garment, cut from tough cotton, furnished with, at minimum, two hip pockets and almost universally dyed in indigo. These indigo jackets were known as bleu de travail - literally ‘blue work’, and indeed this is where the concept of a ‘blue-collar worker’ comes from. Its shape was designed to accommodate chunky knitwear during colder months, whilst its combination of internal and external pockets meant that whatever a day had in store, the wearer could remain well equipped without the necessity of an additional bag.

The style was swiftly taken up in the United Kingdom, particularly in the working areas of the urban north, and in the United States, where it found a home on the railroad and a natural ally in American riveted denim. 

For the new Crane Brothers Utility Jackets, we’ve made some tweaks to the fundamentals - this is a trimmer, more contemporary garment, even though you can still wear a piece of knitwear under one with ease. We’ve added a button gauntlet to the sleeves for versatility, and button-fastening internal pockets for valuable items. Our jacket works brilliantly over a casual shirt or jumper, looks great with a tailored trouser and truly at home with a jean or chino. For those who have stopped wearing tailoring or suiting to work and feel unsure about what to put on, this is the jacket for you. It’s a staple garment for a new kind of contemporary wardrobe and just like its forebears, it’s hard-working, sartorial, practical and timeless.