The Creation of Arthur's Chore Coat
It's the 3rd of February 2026 and two nights ago I released Arthur's Chore Coat.
The Problem
For the past three years I loved to wear my amazing collection of flannel & wool shirts to the office, to bike into the city, work in the garden, meet my father in-law(Stop asking me if I have a real job, Michael). I was missing something that I can throw over the shirt for all of these occasions though. Something with more structure than a hoodie but less formal than a suit jacket. But not a chore coat- that would be simply a second shirt I would be wearing over my shirt. With stacking collars. We talked about this. how stupid.
What I was missing, was a clothing piece, that
- has a tough and hardwearing fabric (more structure than a hoodie)
- adds a little bit of warmth to my shirt. The equation I was looking for was:
warmth(shirt+x)= warmth(hoodie) - supports my cool japanese wool shirt in an aesthetic way
After years of pure agony(I am not making this up) I came up with my own chore coat.
The cut
It has workwear roots but is not really a chore coat regarding the cut- but we can call it that way, so that google SEO works and the normies have an idea on where this piece finds its place in the wardrobe (above a shirt, below the outer layer, in warmer weather replacing your light summer jacket)
The real inspiration behind this thing is a smock- and that’s how it should actually be called. Arthur’s Smock. but this will be a secret, just between the two of us, right?
Shepherd wearing a smock
A smock is an outer garment that was worn above your daily clothes to protect them from the wear of physical labour. My first time seeing a smock was a reproduction model by a japanese workwear brand. Those kind of smocks were often worn by american engineers working on railroads but also by irish shepherds. For them the smock is something that accompanies your existing outfit and supports it
This idea stuck with me. Support, but not only in a mechanical, structural way but also in an aesthetic way.
The look
You know how a suit jacket opens up the view to the underlying garments? Makes room for the shirt collar? Which again opens up in a v-shape to pull the view onto the tie? Why do we have this concept only in formal wear?
The outfit works as an ensemble, not stacking of individual garments.
The aesthetic support led to a collarless design that opens up the view to my shirt. I love alternative collars and collarless designs like mandarin shirts and the new collar line interacts with these exceptionally well.
Construction & Material Choice:
I wanted more structure than a simple hoodie. That’s why any kind of jersey is out of the equation. When turning towards classic workwear fabrics, canvas is a fan favourite- everyone loves canvas, trust me. The cut followed the material choice. Since canvas is a tough and sturdy fabric and not elastic at all I can only get mobility and ease of movement through either incredibly wide cuts OR through adding a big back pleat. I chose the latter one.
Utility:
Regarding the pockets, I wanted to have something different than the typical top opened patch pockets you would find on chore coats.
Those are amazing to hold things, tools, notebooks or a bottle of club mate while you are strolling through a museum or flea market. But those type of pockets are very uncomfortable to rest your hands in.
The alternative, side entry pockets are comfortable for your hands. But in my experience can't hold any beverages- but I am willing to change my mind if you can prove me otherwise.
My solution was a hybrid of those two: a rectangular pocket but with a diagonal rounded entry.
Finishing
Since I am the designer, I don’t only get to choose the silhouette but also the production and the finishing touches. There are some things, that I don’t believe have a justification in a garment(you don’t need a flat felled seam on the inseam of pants, c’mon).
For others I have a very strong opinion on. Especially if they increase the perceived joy that a garment provides. I have strong opinions on these:
- Binded edges on the inside:
Every time you put on the garment you get to touch these. They look and feel amazing and are in my eyes the best way to finish a jacket. Not necessarily pants though. But that’s a different story
Double stitched patch pockets
The double stitching not just only looks incredibly cool and satisfying and is for me a symbol of deliberate handcraft. I do these on a single stitch machine and crating these parallel lines is as much a meditative practice as it is highly focused work.
At the same time the edges of the fabric are caught between the two rows of stitching. When having your hands inside the pockets you don’t feel the raw edges. This is something that sparks joy in me every single time
And here it is. While the construction seems simple on first glance, every single detail is thought through and tried out in different variations. I tried 10 different variations of the back pleat to find the one that offers the right amount of mobility AND providing a nice draping pleat.
And my last joy: Putting Things into numbers.
Each smock consists of 2.5 meter of canvas. Roughly 18m of stitching which comes out to around 7200 stitches in total, all guided, placed and controlled by my hands. I'm pretty proud of those.
Thanks for the read, I hope you enjoyed this small unstructured look into my world.