S.E.H Kelly

[OhBanana]

Was looking at the overcoat wikipedia article out of curiosity. Any thoughts on doing something with a cape Paul? Similar to the Ulster or Inverness?

Total opposite side of the world but what about something with large (enormous) sleeves like a haori?

Might be a bit much for me personally but someone in here might try to pull it off.

Or maybe your version of a lab coat 😂

 

[sehkelly]

Was looking at the overcoat wikipedia article out of curiosity. Any thoughts on doing something with a cape Paul? Similar to the Ulster or Inverness?

Total opposite side of the world but what about something with large (enormous) sleeves like a haori?

Might be a bit much for me personally but someone in here might try to pull it off.

Or maybe your version of a lab coat 😂

Never say never!

(Apart from the haori, a poorly travelled Englishman's interpretation of which sounds the last thing the world needs.)

 

[PacoPico]

I’ve received a hunting jacket and am happy to say it fits well. I was prepared to need to shorten the sleeves but I think they’re just fine and any shorter would show off shirt cuffs. It has a very satisfying and comforting weight to it and I just hope the weather doesn’t warm up too quickly so I don’t need to hang it up for the season yet.

 

[OhBanana]

Didn't think you would. Was just reminded of T-Michael's interpretation from a few years back https://www.t-michael.com/collections/t-kimono. Thought maybe you'd done one for one of your Japan stockists at some point.

I remember strolling through a few fabric shops in I think Nara. Lots of neat fabrics. I have a little coin wallet that looks like it was made with scrap fabrics that I paid entirely too much for. It's still one of my favorite little bags for keeping cash as needed.

 

[ghh923]

@DanielPicktonAllen thanks. I wear a 42 coat and was trying to see where you fell on the spectrum, and whether there was any chance a navy medium field coat would work (no larges or XLs in stock unless Paul has one laying around that isn't reflected online). And it sounds like sizing down, all else being equal, would not be likely to work. Which is consistent with sizing advice on the product page.

 

[DanielPicktonAllen]

I definitely think an interpretation of a Haori would be at significant risk of cultural appropriation.

 

[sehkelly]

I’ve received a hunting jacket and am happy to say it fits well. I was prepared to need to shorten the sleeves but I think they’re just fine and any shorter would show off shirt cuffs. It has a very satisfying and comforting weight to it and I just hope the weather doesn’t warm up too quickly so I don’t need to hang it up for the season yet.

That's really good to hear.

Hopefully you'll get plenty of wear out of it before the warm weather comes around — we made it in cotton and released it now so that it had a good run-up of usefulness between now and, say, May (speaking as a London resident).

And then resuming proceedings through much of autumn, too. That's the idea, anyway!

 

[sehkelly]

I definitely think an interpretation of a Haori would be at significant risk of cultural appropriation.

For us, making a particular jacket or coat or style of trousers starts with understanding the form and knowing the rules. That's rules as in why something is done in a certain way — why that is cut like that, why that pocket is there, why the sleeve is pitched like that, etc.

Usually these rules have become established for good reason, although occasionally they prove vestigial and really just present still for tradition. It's knowing the territory and trying to find an angle into bending or subverting the rule, or chucking it out, or importing an established rule from another style of coat or jacket or trousers that is some of the most fun — but also taking pleasure and pride in continuing other parts of the tradition and executing as best we can.

If we don't know the style, really feeling it in our bones and being able to wrap our heads in and around it, then the new idea or design isn't anchored in anything and lacks (to us personally) value and legitimacy and a reason to be. It's just a "cool thing" potentially, at best, which runs risk of being a counterfeit of the real deal.

 

[10dence]

I definitely think an interpretation of a Haori would be at significant risk of cultural appropriation.

I really hope that is a concept that never gains a serious foothold in Europe. I like seeing SEH Kelly experimenting with the occasional out-there pieces without getting stifled by ridiculous cultural gatekeeping.

 

[DanielPicktonAllen]

Per

I really hope that is a concept that never gains a serious foothold in Europe. I like seeing SEH Kelly experimenting with the occasional out-there pieces without getting stifled by ridiculous cultural gatekeeping.

🙄
… I half expected this.

Perhaps best we stick to the clothes

 

[OhBanana]

At risk of derailment, I only brought up the haori cause I just like outers that are big and loose. Not to say I don't have more fitted stuff as well, just that I think big outwear pieces are really neat.

Gives me space to layer in colder months while being breezy enough for warmer months. I'm mostly interested in layering in the cooler months and not having to apply sunscreen so darn often in the summer months.

Big pockets too cause storage. Sometimes I don't feel like bringing the pack. My phone these days is large enough again that it's uncomfortable to have it in the pants pocket.

If the design isn't particularly interesting to Paul and Sara, I'm more than happy to leave it at that.

 

[OhBanana]

Speaking of phones, do the trends of wallet and phone sizing ever give you pause Paul? They'll get smaller then bigger, then thinner, then thicker so what's good at one point might be off at another.

 

[10dence]

Looking over my collection and what's currently available in the shop, pockets being too few or not big enough for phones is very rarely a problem. Trouser pockets are on average deeper than most others I've tried too.

 

[sehkelly]

Speaking of phones, do the trends of wallet and phone sizing ever give you pause Paul? They'll get smaller then bigger, then thinner, then thicker so what's good at one point might be off at another.

I propound cellphone designers working around outerwear designers rather than the other way around.

 

[shunese]

I definitely think an interpretation of a Haori would be at significant risk of cultural appropriation.

Hasn't stopped many companies from selling items like noragis outside of where they originated. I think it has been normalized because I do not hear much of a backlash that they continue to do so.