Octobre Éditions, the menswear arm of French womenswear sensation Sézane, has collaborated with Parisian vintage fabric house Lafayette Saltiel Drapiers to create this classic houndstooth check jacket. As with most woven wool fabrics, the houndstooth pattern – which the French refer to as pied-de-poule, originated in Scotland. It can be traced back to sometime between 100BC and 360AD, specifically in the Scottish Lowlands near the Anglo-Saxon border, hence its original name, Border tartan. As one of the more ancient types of tartan, it’s from that very same stable of cloth –created by non-clansmen and originally produced on a woven wool cloth. In fact, it had the humblest of beginnings as the cloth of choice for shepherds’ outer garments.
Houndstooth is woven using a 2/2 twill weave structure which consists of alternating bands of light and dark threads: four threads of one colour and four threads of a second colour repeated, threaded as a straight twill, which uses the same pattern of four of one colour and four of the other in the weft, with the resulting broken check pattern resembling a dog’s tooth. Much like stripes being adopted from sailors’ uniforms, houndstooth was popularised by the social elite as a way of refreshing their style. In 1950 pied-de-poule became a firm favourite of fashion designer Christian Dior. He loved its symbolism so much, that he even packaged his first fragrance in the bicolour pattern.
Crafted from 100 per cent wool by Magee of Donegal, the Riddle jacket is designed to weather the seasons with elegance. Weighing in at 237g/m², it’s substantial enough to wear with just a shirt and lambswool sweater layered beneath, and the fact that it’s half lined makes it supremely comfortable. It features a rather wholesome 10cm vintage-style lapel while patch pockets differentiate it from a suit jacket – it’s thought that patch pockets originated when men began asking their tailors to add additional storage to their sports jackets (a name once used to refer to men’s suit jackets and blazers on the more informal side). Equally at home worn casually with white denim or cords with suede boots, or dressed up with grey flannels and a cashmere polo neck, it makes the perfect travel jacket in the most timeless of patterns.
Riddle Octobre Éditions x Lafayette Saltiel suit jacket in beige houndstooth check, £255; octobre-editions.com
Lee Osborne is a menswear consultant and creative director of Secret Trips
