If editor requests are any indication, women’s fashion this spring will continue to show a military-inspired flair. But before we embrace this hot “new” trend (again), let’s not forget that this latest invasion actually had its start with uber-functional menswear brands like Willis & Geiger, with its authentic American flight jacket, the A-2, made during World War II.
Founded in 1902 by artic explorer Benjamin Willis and joined in the ‘20s by Geiger, a list of Willis & Geiger clients reads like a “Who’s Who” of the adventure set: Teddy Roosevelt, Admiral Byrd, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart and Sir Edmund Hillary. Unfortunately, a major debt owed them by Abercrombie & Fitch brought down the brand but not the yearning for that romantic Golden Age, when real leather trumped shiny synthetics.
The brand was revived in the late ‘70s by the daring and debonair Burt Avedon, a hunter and WWII pilot, who appreciated the performance of these superior products. Burt sold Willis & Geiger to Lands’ End in the 1990s, which owned the brand for a few catalog runs before liquidating it. (On occasion, I run into Burt and his wife Silvana while shopping at the Whole Foods in our neighborhood).
Today, nearly 100 years from the brand’s start, fan sites still exist for the legions of loyal followers who crave the functional epaulettes and bi-swing backs from another era. The vintage A-2 and G-8 jackets, if you can find them, sell for far more than their original purchase price.
On a personal note, Anna’s husband is the proud owner of an A-2 WWII flight jacket he purchased in the late ‘90s. It will clearly last long past the current military look fad, built with the function and hope that characterizes all classically-inspired products. And, it looks really cool.