A very cool artisanal piece here from the M.A+ label, designed by Maurizio Amadei formerly of Carpe Diem. Carpe Diem was basically the pinnacle of artisanal fashion in the early 2000s, producing some extremely influential clothing and working as the creative outlet for a number of highly influential designers. Maurizio Altieri, Maurizio Amadei, Luca Laurini of Label Under Construction, and even Yoko Ito of Individual Sentiments all worked for Carpe Diem. Production with Carpe Diem was always very small and retail prices were often astronomical if you could find them. Still, the steep prices were often worth it, where nobody produced clothing of comparable thought or design at the time.
With M.A+, Amadei continues in Carpe Diem’s tradition of entirely handmade garments, paired with completely unique and interesting patterns and fabrics, as well as a strong emphasis on leather. While M.A+ uses a variety of materials, Amadei got his start in leather work and M.A+ very much specializes in leather pieces. They have some of the highest quality leather that I have personally handled, easily rivaling Carol Christian Poell, Augusta / a1923, Guidi or any of their contemporaries. Treatments are also singularly unique as we see here.
What we have here is a leather work jacket. Silhouette follows the classic work jacket reasonably closely, although there are unsurprisingly a good number of little quirks. For one, the jacket is entirely hand made. It is easy to see the handmade character throughout, and this of course makes each piece completely unique. Same goes for the leather: each piece of leather is treated but they are totally unique with little nicks and scratches here and there. This is a part of the character of the leather and something to enjoy. One of the best parts for me personally are the curved seams throughout. Amadei loves incorporating curved seams into his designs, following the natural contours of the body and making for a completely unique pattern design. Also worth noting is the fact that Amadei likes to use a single piece of leather as much as possible. The curved seams allow for better leather usage and a more beautiful garment overall. At the same time, large and undamaged pieces of leather are considerably more expensive to source and to use, as any blemish or mistake requires a new piece of leather. M.A+ pieces use leather in an almost virtuosic way. Design is such here that even though you are seeing two shades of brown it is actually the same leather used throughout. The lighter shade is the reverse suede side, while the darker brown is the front part of the leather – you can actually see the difference if you turn it around.
All kinds of details are incorporated here as well. As noted, the pattern is totally unique with curving seams all around. This also means a completely raglan shoulder line, something that can accommodate a larger range of shoulder sizes. Interior is fully lined in what I believe to be a merino wool, featuring raw seams at the bottom that artfully poke out. Buttons are all hardened leather as well. Left cuff features the “+” logo using genuine silver bars, an M.A.+ signature. There is also an array of pockets, including two large, lined patch pockets on the front, two chest pockets, as well as a smaller pocket on the bottom right and another smaller pocket above the top left chest pocket. Fit is somewhat slim in the body with an elongated arm seam as is typical of M.A+, although this one is not rail thin as you often find from them and can fit a more normal body type. As you can hopefully see, these are premium pieces using top quality materials and done entirely by hand in Italy. Retail is about $3000, not cheap by any stretch, but of course you can get it much more reasonably here.
As is the custom with earlier M.A+, there is no sizing labeled here or branding incorporated. Fit is actually a bit loose for M.A+, where this fits like a standard medium in my opinion. Exact measurements are difficult given the nature of the construction and no clear seams. However, I measure the chest at approx. 21.5”, shoulders at approx. 18”, length at 29” from the base of the neck, and sleeves at approx. 28” from the shoulder. The jacket comes in lightly used, very good shape with no holes, tears or stains. Note that the uneven coloring and textured appearance of the leather are intentional and a part of the garment. These are hand made pieces, painstakingly dyed, each with a completely unique character. Made in Italy.
Shipping from Japan to anywhere will be $40 given the weight of the piece.