Baracuta teams up with Junya Watanabe to reimagine a design classic

Seminal Japanese designer Junya Watanabe reimagines Baracuta’s iconic G9 Harrington jacket to create a true fashion collectable

Man on Japanese street in Baracuta x Junya Watanabe Harrington jacket and kilt
Baracuta x Junya Watanabe
(Image credit: Courtesy of Baracuta)

British outerwear brand Baracuta – still synonymous with the G9 Harrington jacket first crafted in England in 1937 – reveals its latest collaboration today, teaming up with Junya Watanabe to create a reimagined version of the G9 imbued with the Japanese designer’s avant-garde sensibility and eye for cut and form (Watanabe was a protégé of Rei Kawakubo and remains part of the Comme des Garçons group).

Watanabe was given free rein to rework the seminal garment – Baracuta note it was the designer’s ‘experience and ability to interpret’ that provided the roots of the collaboration – here focusing primarily on silhouette, expanding the G9’s proportions for an oversized fit. Watanabe approached the redesign through deconstruction, taking apart the original pattern and reimagining its shape in panels of varying fabrics for a subtle feeling of patchwork. The final jacket is all black, recalling both the original G9 Harrington and a classic bomber jacket. 

Baracuta x Junya Watanabe

Man in Baracuta x Junya Watanabe jacket on white industrial wall

Baracuta x Junya Watanabe

(Image credit: Courtesy of Baracuta)

Otherwise, Watanabe chose to retain many of the original G9’s features – namely the umbrella back yoke, classic two-button ‘dog ear’ collar, raglan sleeves and recognisable slanted pockets. The jacket also keeps the tartan lining of the original design, though here Baracuta’s recognisable Fraser tartan  becomes mixed-up with a ‘punk-style’ tartan of Watanabe’s own choosing (in the collection’s accompanying images, the jacket is worn with a tartan kilt – one of the Japanese designer’s own iconic pieces).

The limited-edition Baracuta x Junya Watanabe jacket – which the brand call a ‘true collectable’ – is available from today (11 November 2022) on Baracuta’s website and in Eye, Comme des Garçons and Junya Watanabe retailers. 

baracuta.com

Fashion Features Editor

Jack Moss is the Fashion Features Editor at Wallpaper*. Having previously held roles at 10, 10 Men and AnOther magazines, he joined the team in 2022. His work has a particular focus on the moments where fashion and style intersect with other creative disciplines – among them art and design – as well as championing a new generation of international talent and profiling the industry’s leading figures and brands.