Cohérence is well-known for its vintage-inspired but modern-refined outerwear, in particular its overcoats and jackets. All its garments and fabrics are entirely designed and produced in Japan. Inspiration is taken from iconic artists and intellectuals of the last century and combined with the latest development in Japanese technology. Not without reason, the predominant motto of the brand is “The wardrobe of Legends”. Apart from its meticulous attention to detail but also its sartorial tailoring techniques, the brand stands for genuineness, romanticism and innovation. Have a closer look at the brand’s history, its value proposition, the product range and why you should own at least one Cohérence overcoat!

The history of Cohérence

Cohérence is a Japanese brand for ready-to-wear outerwear which is especially well-known for its sartorial overcoats. It was founded by Kentaro Nakagomi, the Creative Director in the autumn/winter season of 2015. After his studies of textile, design and pattern making, he started his professional career at a British-Japanese brand. Initially, he was an in-house designer, working his way through to being the planning, production control and design manager. During this time, Kentaro Nakagomi was also able to learn sewing and cutting from a tailor who has learned this craft in Italy.

Eventually, he decided to start his own brand, focusing on overcoats. He has always been a big fan of overcoats and for him, this garment is a truly romantic cloth. However, researching the market at that time, he could not find any proper assortment of overcoats to fulfill his ideals. It is still very rare and difficult to find a factory specializing in overcoats with highly skilled employees. Apart from this, a unique fabric production background is essential. He had a great idea and lots of passion, so his project was born.

What makes Cohérence outerwear special

There are three main factors distinguishing Cohérence overcoats from those of other brands:

• Inspiration for the design of all garments is taken from portraits of legendary artists and intellectuals of the 20th century, such as author and philosopher Camus, painter and sculptor Duchamp, architect Le Corbusier and artist Matisse. Hence the name for their very first collection: “The wardrobe of legends”.
• All fabrics are entirely developed in-house and also produced in Japan by using the latest Japanese technologies.
• All outerwear garments are manufactured solely in Japan at top-level factories. As already mentioned, such high-end factories specializing in overcoats are very rare worldwide.

It is Kentaro Nakagomi’s desire to convey a very special value proposition to its customers. With his brand Cohérence he wants to emphasize the continuous flow of combining remembrance, inheritance and present technology as an alternative to the current traditional idea of luxury and genuineness. Although Cohérence’s design inspiration and cutting references have roots in the past, they are not doing any reproductions. They are taking inspiration from the aesthetics of vintage materials, but at the same time, Cohérence is carefully exploring how to combine those with the developments of modernity.

A unique feature of Cohérence garments is also the beautiful silhouette which is adjusting to the body movement. In order to achieve this, a very precise and highly experienced cutting and sewing as well as high-quality and durable fabrics are essential. This is referred to as “Masculine Beauty Fitting”. It does not only create a special look and comfortable feeling for the wearer. It also perfectly supports its original function: protecting the inner clothing layers from rain, wind and dust.

The Cohérence overcoats product range

The whole Cohérence outerwear product range is designed and creatively directed by its founder, Kentaro Nakagomi. This accounts for both, each single garment but also each fabric used. The collection distinguishes two models:

• Standard models and
• Seasonal models (seasonal combination of certain models and fabrics; sometimes even a whole new model)

From those two categories, Cohérence is always introducing between 10 and 14 garments in total which are different in terms of body length. Design-wise the longest coat in the collection is the overcoat MUTT2 which embodies a tielocken style. On the contrary, the shortest blouson is Gianni, which is based on a Harrington type sports jacket. The Cohérence trench coat and Balmacaan collar coat are the best-sellers throughout all seasons. The brand will also add a short zip blouson to its collection in this summer season 2020.

Cohérence fabrics

The fabrics used for Cohérence products are for example Cotton Gabardine, Poplin, Superdense (super density) Microfiber Twill (high water-repellency and also breathability) and Tweed Jersey. The latter is based on the idea of the famous English tweed but kind of updated and re-designed with the latest Japanese technology and knitting technique. Furthermore, it can be stretched and is also significantly lighter than the traditional tweed fabric. The development of those fabrics is definitely the most time-consuming part of making a new collection.

There are always new ideas, technological developments and unique materials which might be considered. It also frequently happens to refine and rebuild functional materials of the past (for example rubberized cotton, the special high-quality woven cotton fabric Ventile, waxed cotton, gabardine, tweed, etc.). In this case, the essential elements of beauty are maintained whilst they are combined with the latest Japanese technology. For all of the above, there is between two and five different colors to be chosen from.

Cohérence’s goals and sales channels

Cohérence outerwear garments have already found their way into the wardrobes of clients from all over the world. Now, their aim is to keep staying in such closets in the future and to also convince those customers to come back and extend their personal Cohérence collections. A further aspiration of the brand is to be considered as the new benchmark on the market when it comes to high-quality overcoats.

Cohérence overcoats can be bought at online shops and also menswear shops all over the world. In the beginning of its existence, the brand was focusing on the market outside of Japan. Currently, it is further developing its presence in Europe, North America and also Asia, including Japan.

Get some more inspiration on the Cohérence website and their Instagram account.

Dear Cohérence Team, thank you very much again for all those truly fascinating and interesting insights into your vintage-inspired but also modern-refined and innovative Japanese overcoats! 😊

Picture courtesy: Cohérence