Usually we start with the fabric. This time we started with the trim...

Why have buttons and a zip? Why not one closure type, that's genuinely tough?

We'd designed our own embossed stainless steel rivets for a denim jacket design that's on ice. Boy do we love those rivets. 

We were also looking at old riveted American trucker jackets, and wanted to do a smarter, more quietly British version.

We looked back and forth at our Trucker work, then at the rivets, then at Deck jackets, and....lightbulb. It all started to make sense.

Rivets. Rivets made it work. Sometimes the best answers are the simplest.

We needed a really hard wearing fabric that could match a Deck's origins, and take the sheer strength of the rivets. 

We went through a number of samples, to no avail. Too stuff. Too weak. Too meh.

Then, in a design meeting, I was thrown a new British Millerain fabric that they'd done for us. A deeply grained, really substantial waxed cotton, with a really hardy matte finish, yet amazingly comfortable.

Found it. We've got our key facets. Rivets & twill.

I won't use fur at FRAHM. In my opinion it's cruel, ostentatious, and annoys me anyway.

We wanted a more subdued, smart jacket anyway. To bring balance to the force, we decided a fine corduroy was perfect to trim a neat turn-down collar. 

We line cuffs whenever the construction makes this possible, and the original USN Deck had this too, so there's cord on the inside the rivet-closure cuffs. More comfort.

Always looking to navigate the interesting side of tasteful, rather than showy over-adornment, we used the corduroy again on the inside of the (ubiquitous of course)  FRAHM hand pockets. 

Every man who tries our Deck on makes a little noise, looks at us and goes "Oh, mmm, that's so soft. Cord inside the pockets. Nice touch."

The N1 had heavy wool insulation, weighing the wearer down, literally.

We wanted our Deck to have greater versatility, with less bulk & ease of all-day movement. 

We opted for quilted mid-weight Primaloft insulation, which has a very low volume to heat-retention ratio. It's also home machine-washable, rather than filthily unwashable, like the N1.

Then we lined the near-finished design with a soft fine check pure cotton flannel.

After that, it was all about the little details we always include - more pockets, a 'bellows' action back for greater movement, improved sizing, adjustable hip rivets...

The list goes on. Always.