Hollywood’s It boys are keeping the Carhartt Detroit Jacket alive
Take a cue from Paul Mescal, Austin Butler and Drew Starkey, and get your hands on the workwear staple ASAP
TWO HUNDRED AND thirteen years ago, Jane Austen wrote, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” That’s great and all, but perhaps a little bit outdated. Personally, I find it to be a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune in the year 2024 must be in want of a Carhartt Detroit Jacket.
I can’t step outside without seeing a sea of Detroit Jackets, everywhere I go. I see them at work, at the bar after work, at the club after the bar. I see them in every other fit pic on my Instagram feed, and subsequently, on the videos of farmers on TikTok that I watch when I don’t want to see any more fit pics. And, I see them on the hottest actors of the season.
It’s no secret that Austin Butler is a Carhartt-head, and is probably the man you’re bidding against on eBay to score that vintage number. He inaugurated Detroit Jacket Season back in September—perfect timing, too, given how the Detroit Jacket is crafted from durable duck cotton and blanket-lined for warmth. Butler’s grey, slash-pocket number with a brown corduroy collar was styled with a black trucker cap and baggy jeans — quintessentially cool, the perfect off-duty-A-lister vibe, effortlessly stylish.
Perhaps following Butler’s lead, Paul Mescal donned his own workwear number — and his Detroit Jacket is seriously designed for workwear. The version he wears has a bi-fold swing on the back; that’s Carhartt’s way of indicating that this style is really designed for workwear — you’ve gotta have full freedom of movement, given by some extra room in the back and shoulders.
Maybe Mescal, with his ever-present wired headphones, sunnies, and baseball cap was headed to do some construction earlier this week when he wore it. Or maybe he’s already training for Gladiator III, swapping his leather armour for equally-as-tough Carhartt. (I happen to know he was actually at the airport, which is also a great place to don a Detroit.) The Carhartt WIP Detroit Jackets don’t have a bi-fold swing, so if you want a style that says “I like the look of workwear but I don’t need the functionality of workwear,” that’s for you.
If these two aren’t enough to convince you that you need to get a Detroit Jacket for the season ASAP (especially before Butler buys one out from under you), Drew Starkey’s dressed-down look surely will. The Queer and Outer Banks actor has been taking his Detroit Jacket out and about for a while now — from press events in spring to off-duty jaunts around town just this month. This is a true staple piece, one that comes with you everywhere.
Drew Starkey with a fan yesterday in London. pic.twitter.com/oQBwMmr7uX
— Drew Starkey Updates (@DrewStarkeyUPD) October 16, 2024
Starkey styles his Detroit Jacket in true New Yorker (and by that I lovingly mean Bushwick) fashion—big-ass headphones, trucker hat, baggy workwear trousers, and Adidas Sambas. It’s also very possible that he beat Austin Butler to the Carhartt bandwagon.
However you’re going to style yours is up to you, but the first thing you’ve gotta do is get your own Detroit Jacket. Whether you go for Carhartt, Carhartt WIP, or a vintage number, take notes from these guys — clearly, they know what’s up.
Shop our favourite Carhartt Detroit Jackets
Carhartt Relaxed Fit Duck Blanket Lined Detroit
Carhartt WIP Detroit Jacket
Carhartt WIP Detroit Jacket in ‘Deerborn’ canvas
A version of this story first appeared on Esquire US.
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