March 05, 2024

This Young Outerwear Brand Makes Sleek Topcoats As Warm as Your Biggest Puffer

Norwegian Wool is transforming traditional tailored outerwear with some high-tech touches.

Every nation has its sartorial specialty. There’s denim in America, bespoke tailoring in England, and millennia worth of expertise across a whole swath of categories in France. And while you don’t have to work very hard to find products from these countries, it’s not the most common thing in the world to see them collaborate in meaningful new ways. Which is why it’s so notable that Norwegian Wool has managed to blend Italian craftsmanship and Scandinavian technical know-how to strong effect.

Taking its inspiration from both Northern and Southern Europe, the relatively young brand is trying to tackle the age-old problem of outerwearthat’s warm enough to keep winter chill at bay but looks good worn with your best suit. (Its founder, a former commodities trader, found that his warmest coats weren’t nice enough to pass aesthetic muster with his well-heeled older colleagues.) To solve this, Norwegian Wool cuts the shells of its coats from cashmere and wool before lining them with an innovative genuine down fill that features significantly less bulk than you’d find in a comparably warm puffer jacket.

Norwegian Wool

The brand did its due diligence and asked native Norwegians about how to best combat winter’s worst weather. This knowledge was then relayed to the company’s manufacturer in the suburbs of Florence, Italy, where it implemented the feedback into the designs. Norwegian Wool currently offers five styles (a car coat, a 3/4 length topcoat, a longer traditional topcoat, a hooded parka and a single-breasted trench, priced from $995 to $6,995). Each of these has the ability to close high on the neck, and all of them feature a waterproof treatment that helps in slushy conditions.

Multiple inner pockets built into each model offer relief from so many top coats that, though nice to look at, often leave their wearers wanting in terms of function. Even the hand pockets were thought out as they are all made extra deep and lined with moleskin so that gloves are rendered unnecessary should you be caught without your favorite pair.

If you’re interested in a new winter coat that combines serious warmth with great style, you’ll find Norwegian Wool at Bloomingdale’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and on its own website.  

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