The pea coat. Six buttons, a broad tailored collar, a straight cut. On the surface, nothing could be simpler. And yet no other coat has this immediate presence, this natural authority. The pea coat does not try to impress: it impresses precisely because it does not try.
Naval origins
The pea coat, known in French as the “caban”, was born aboard warships. Sailors of the Royal Navy, and later of the French Navy, wore it to face the wind and sea spray. The thick, felted wool naturally repelled moisture. The short cut allowed them to climb the rigging without getting tangled. The buttons, large and widely spaced, could be grasped with wet, frozen gloves.
The tailored collar, that broad collar which turns up and buttons at the side, is the signature of the pea coat. It shields the neck from the wind without smothering, frames the face and gives that distinctive bearing, at once martial and elegant.
The pea coat today
A pea coat is chosen for its cut: straight, with no superfluous volume, and clean shoulders. The ideal length covers the hips without going lower; that is what distinguishes the pea coat from the overcoat. The fabric is essential. A felted wool pea coat remains true to the original. A cashmere pea coat offers an entirely different experience: lighter and more fluid, it is worn like a heavy jacket rather than a coat. At Coulange, every pea coat, for men as for women, is made in France, in our workshop, because it is the kind of coat one keeps for a lifetime.