JJJJound and Eddie Bauer Team Up for the Platonic Winter Layer
If Virgil Abloh’s design approach follows what he calls the 3% Rule—instead of changing something wholesale, tweak something existing just a touch—you could say that Justin Saunders follows the 1% rule.
And, occasionally, the please-don’t-touch-anything-at-all rule.
Saunders is the brain behind moodboard-turned-design agency JJJJound, and in recent years his barely-nudged takes on classic objects have become reliable hits. Gray New Balances, white-and-beige Reeboks, and green Vans look less like special-edition sneakers than versions that should have been released years ago, and a collaboration with the legendary minimalists at A.P.C. prompted founder Jean Touitou to describe Saunders as “driven by a search for perfection that is almost impossible to attain.”
The guy is deeply discriminating when it comes to objects, and now he’s got a new one: Eddie Bauer’s Canadian Vest. The Seattle “expedition outfitter” made the down-filled piece for more than 40 years before discontinuing it, and now it’s coming back to life in three colors—and, notably, in a jacket version with sleeves.
Over email, Saunders explains that the JJJJound team has long collected vintage Eddie Bauer—and that the Canadian Vest, particularly, symbolized what they love about the line. “We wanted to revisit product from back when things were super well-made, but it wasn’t quite a race to a new crazier synthetic material, taped-seamed jacket with an aquaseal zipper. We wanted to avoid all that. We like to keep it simple and salute the past.”
Which they’re doing, for the most part. “In an ideal world, we would like to be able to reproduce 1 to 1 the products that we find in the wild that are no longer in production,” Saunders says. Which, of course, isn’t exactly possible. “Over the years we’ve learned to accept that machines change and materials evolve, and that’s OK. We definitely wanted to create something you could label as heritage.”
So the vest isn’t quite what it used to be. It’s done in the mellow JJJJound palette, coming in beige, army green, and navy blue, and is hit with minimally-branded hardware. The biggest change comes with the second item in the one-off collection: those three vests also come in full-sleeved down jacket versions. The vest will retail for $149, and the jacket for $249; both pieces launch November 12th at EddieBauer.com and JJJJound.com.
It’s about as mellow an intervention as you can imagine, given that it’s a whole new silhouette. It looks sort of like a jacket you find in your dad’s garage, or maybe your grandpa’s—which is basically the point. “We definitely try to steer away from being highly opinionated on product design,” Saunders says. “When it isn’t broken don’t fix it dot com.”