The trench coat was born in the trenches of the First World War. Originally designed to protect British officers from rain and wind, it owes its name to the muddy ditches where men spent weeks on end. Thomas Burberry filed the prototype as early as 1901, but it was the 1914-18 conflict that made it a universal garment. More than a century later, the trench remains one of the most elegant pieces in menswear — a garment that moves through the ages without ever going out of style.
The Trench coat vert kaki M67 by Coulange 1918 fits into this lineage with precision. Handmade in our French workshop, it combines 100% water-repellent cotton with a full cupro lining, a fabric that is soft, breathable and silky, gliding over other garments without ever catching. Cupro, derived from recycled cotton fibres, offers the drape of silk with the easy care of cotton — a material choice that reveals a particular attention to the comfort of the person wearing it.
Its khaki green shade, directly inspired by historical uniforms, gives it a natural understatement. It pairs with everything, effortlessly. Raw denim and boots for everyday wear. Grey flannel trousers for more formal days. A dark turtleneck when temperatures drop. Waterproof thanks to its water-repellent cotton, this trench coat becomes the ideal companion for rainy seasons and milder mid-season weather. Worn open over a poplin shirt, or closed against the wind with the collar turned up.
What sets this piece apart is its balance. Neither too long nor too short. Neither too military nor too civilian. It finds that precise point where a garment stops being a uniform and becomes a personal signature. The cut is straight, the shoulders are crisp, the drape is fluid. Nothing is left to chance in its making — every seam, every button, every finish is the result of a mastered gesture.
Wearing a Coulange trench is choosing a piece with a story to tell. The story of craftsmanship passed down since 1918, of an attention to detail you feel from the very first gesture, when you slip it over your shoulders. It does not seek to impress — it is simply there, and that is enough. A piece you keep for years, that develops a patina with time, and that you might one day, perhaps, pass on in turn.