This morning, Manchester — as it nearly always is — was raining. We had a few nice days last week, which got us all hopeful for spring, but just when you think a stretch of good weather is on the horizon, this city has an unbelievable knack for letting you down in the wettest way possible.
Weather like this means outerwear is never not on our minds. Down jackets, hard shells, ponchos, GORE-TEX shoes, nylon caps – any and all forms of wearable weatherproofing are perpetually worn. And when they’re not being worn, they’re being thought about and obsessed over.
And it’s those constant, bad-weather-wary thought patterns that have led us to our latest fixation: JUGEM.
JUGEM is a Japanese brand that cares more about outerwear than even the wettest Mancunian. Their roster of big coats is unbelievable, spanning from down parkas and insulated vests to Dyneema shell jackets and nylon pullovers. It’s one of the best brands we’ve come across in recent memory – and we owe it all to Dreaded Path and Spaces Agency.
The Instagram moodboard turned creative agency recently took JUGEM to the outskirts of Edinburgh. A region that would happily compete with Manchester for unfavourable weather.
Front and centre of the editorial is the Explore Down Parka – a behemoth of a jacket boasting an outrageous 1000 down fill-power rating. The parka has then been supplemented with one of the brand’s Short Down Vests, creating an insulating package fit to keep even the most testing of Scottish breezes at bay.
Further into the campaign, the Extreme Down Parka III comes into the picture. A coat defined by two massive pockets, a brushed face fabric, packable hood and a set of elbow reinforcements that look like they’ve been machined out of something from the International Space Station.
Elsewhere, the brand’s Cardigan Down Jacket is layered in between outfits, appearing almost as a liner rather than a standalone garment – another indicator of the freezing temperatures Dreaded Path & Spaces Agency endured to get this editorial over the line.
From Manchester downpours to Edinburgh’s slush-lined outskirts, JUGEM produces the kind of outerwear that feels entirely at home in the conditions most of us in the North are begrudgingly used to. And you’d best believe that the next time we’re trudging through town, freezing cold and soaked to the bone, we’ll have JUGEM’s loft-laden heavyweights on our minds.
Find out more about JUGEM here
