P.S. If you don’t mind trading a smidge of stretch and slightly less nice fabric for a more affordable price, Lee’s mainline Rider Jacket is a great pickup, especially if you’re not a certified denimhead.
Best Grail-Worthy Denim Jacket: Kapital Boro 1st Denim Jacket
Material: 100% cotton | Fit: Boxy, cropped | Sizes: 2-5
Fans of the Japanese brand Kapital are quick to point out the brand’s head-spinning takes on denim. From painstaking boro patchwork stitched by hand to far-out interpretations of blue jeans, the cult-loved label is a true innovator in the denim space. Its catalog is chock full of certified grails, but if you’re focusing in on jackets, it doesn’t get any crazier than its boro jacket. From the outset, it looks more like an antique pile of fabric than a jacket—and that’s kind of the point. The jacket is made of dozens and dozens of fabric scraps, each one meticulously distressed—and then repaired— to look like worn-out vintage textiles before sewn back together as a single garment.
As you can imagine, the process is extraordinarily time-consuming. That immense dedication results in a jacket that’s truly not for the faint of heart or those with shallow pockets. This particular jacket takes inspiration from Type I denim jackets and features a single flap pocket, rear cinch, and a boxy cropped fit. It may look shredded, but putting it on feels like absolute butter thanks to the custom, boro-printed satin interior.
Best Denim Work Jacket: Alex Mill Work Jacket
Material: 100% cotton, Japanese denim | Fit: Relaxed fit | Sizes: XS-XXL
A chore coat isn’t what most people think of as a ‘jean jacket’. But I’m proposing this as a more practical, no-less stylish alternative to the usual trucker jackets you’re used to seeing. And if you’re taking the term ‘denim jacket’ liberally, any outerwear made of denim would count. Anyway. Chore coats are more commonly made of a sturdy canvas or heavy moleskin cotton fabric, but denim’s resilience make it another reliable option for the workwear genre.
It doesn’t get much better than this one from Alex Mill. The brand’s range of modern menswear staples is no slouch when it comes to fabric and construction and its line of chore coats is among the best out there, even compared to the multi-generational stalwarts like Carhartt and Dickies. This one’s made with sturdy, yet broken-in 100% cotton Japanese denim and comes with dual chest pockets and hand pockets, not to mention a stealthy phone pocket. The relaxed fit borders on boxy and is roomy enough to layer over a sweater or thick hoody once the temps drop. But if you’re not the denim type (why are you even here?) Alex Mill makes its work jacket in a range of different fabrics, too.
