Contemporary designers have prioritized aesthetic over utility; and synthetic materials such as polyester, polyamide, and polyurethane have pervaded, and tarnished collections once glorified for their use of natural materials such as cotton, silk, and leather.

These natural fibers are the bastions of the constant struggle between craft and fine art, and are testament to the fact that though fashion has always been perceived as a craft, recent developments in the fashion world, by our featured designer Nigel Cabourn have proved otherwise. In recent years, Cabourn, and our very own Kenny Fabrikant, owner of the Hanover boutique Rosey Jekes, cooperated on a project to bring back vintage designs from British military expeditions to the modern consumer.

Pieces such as the Everest Parka, which employs some of the highest quality natural fibers to date, i.e. ventile cotton, down, and coyote fur, have attracted nearly every consumer from all walks of life. Just ask Kenny, and he will tell you of his experiences in New York City wearing one of his two beautiful coats. Pedestrians stop him on the street asking “where can I get this jacket?” His response, not to be seen as condescending at all since the jacket does carry a hefty price tag, “got 3,000 dollars?”

And if you ask me, it is worth every last penny. Each jacket, is a collectors piece, only 110 were made in the world, and only seven, the number is dwindling fast, can be purchased. But where you ask? In little old Hanover, NH. Who would expect that? Moral of the story, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’, Hanover has secrets of its own.

Photographs by Sydney