'Streetwear Is Dead!' the headlines shrieked, causing millions (well, maybe thousands) to reassess the hoodies and the track jackets and the inflated sneakers they'd grown to love and care for over the last half of a decade. But the death knell is somewhat premature. Despite a show season that favoured tailoring over logo-slathered, one streetwear staple can still be enjoyed. In fact, the bomber jacket has been dragged into A&E for a second chance at life. And you can consider Sebastian Stan its good doctor.
At an Atlanta screening of his latest flick The Last Full Measure (a Vietnam war film in which someone will inevitably scream "go on, save yourself!"), the 37-year-old upgraded the now-homogenous bomber jacket. It wasn't the black, orange-lined sort from the fringes of Eighties pop culture. Nor was it the fitted, minimalist version sort favoured by the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio. This has the bulk of the former, but the versatility of the latter. And, in a heady shade of shiraz, it's a bomber jacket that'll spruce up even the most depressing of wardrobe rotations at the most depressing time of the year.
But hey! Don't be down! Though fashion's intelligentsia has distanced itself from the humble bomber jacker (Virgil Abloh went for cloudscape two-piece at Louis Vuitton, while Prada returned to the polish that made Mama P famous in the first place), you don't have to. Like Stan, revive the staple with colour – burgundy, or forest green, or even a sparkling, lovely azure if you're feeling very special – and pare down with monotone elsewhere. You'll have some of this hanging in your wardrobe too.
So, as your bomber jacket learns to walk again, nurses smiling on at its "very good progress", remember to give Dr Stan's hand a light squeeze, and your plentiful, teary-eyed thanks. He's just doing his job, he says. He's also saving your wardrobe from monotony.
Alpha Industries – £215 Sleeve detail bomber jacket
