From the Archives: Maremanna game jacket

In a frightening preview of Barbour in 2015, the John Ashfield brand of Italian hunting clothing has gone from pitching mossy moleskin Maremmana game jackets to pink logo tees, fleece jackets and beachwear. Grant Petersen of Rivendell claims that the first sign of an outdoor company in decline (namely, Filson or Patagonia) is the introduction of a women's wear line. The first sign for me would be the availability of gifts, fragrances and teddy bears on the corporate website.

Though I've deaccessioned John Ashfield as an Archival Clothing brand I'm posting some photos of two Maremmana game jackets from the original Ashfield website.

One hour post-script: perhaps the first sign of decline is repeated references to your product in NYC menswear boutiques ala the reference to the "Filson bags piled in a mound in the corner" in the review of the Steve Alan Annex in today's Critical Shopper column.

Buying Corduroy Abroad: John Ashfield

Via internet I’ve been tracking on some international Filsonesque brands which look promising but probably measure up to be Euro equivalents of Abercrombie and Fitch or Forever 21. This type of garment stalking lends itself to austerity since mail order from Italy is pretty much out of the question (submit credit card info at your peril)(I should add that the “add to shopping cart” function on most of these sites never seems to operate).

I’m now mainly collecting stock footage from these sites for inclusion in my own forthcoming fictional mail order Archival Clothing catalogue. In the case of Ashfield, I’m intrigued by the vibrant corduroy and unique pocket configuration of the gentleman's "Maremmana" game jacket.

http://www.johnashfield.com/