Item 2017.321 - Junior Gaultier Cropped MA-1 Jacket

Black polyamide puffer jacket styled like an MA1 flight jacket, featuring a turn-down collar with lapels and a v-neck. It fastens at the centre front with four black Fiocchi press studs. The hem is rounded at the opening, and there are two angled, flapped pockets at each hip, each secured with a black press stud. A Riri zip pocket is located on the left sleeve at the shoulder.

The jacket includes waist shaping with two darts above each front pocket and a long dart on each side of the centre back seam. It is lined in red viscose, with a large patch on the centre back lining depicting a clown or jester with "Junior" on his hat. The jacket's padding is polyester.
Size: M
Country of Design: France
Country of Manufacture: Italy.

Invisible Men exhibition label:

FITTED MA1 JACKET
Junior Gaultier
1988

Gaultier’s obsession with British street style from skinheads, ravers and B-Boys led to his appropriation of the MA1 jacket to create a range of garments that subverted its military heritage. For this MA1-style jacket, Gaultier has emphasised the waist using darts to shape the jacket front and removed the usually ribbed hem to create a more cropped silhouette.
Polyamide, polyester, viscose.
Archive no. 2017.321

From Inside the Westminster Menswear Archive:

CROPPED MA-1 JACKET
Junior Gaultier
Autumn Winter 1988
By the middle of the 1980s, the MA-1 jacket had become a ubiquitous piece of streetwear, worn by skinheads, gay men, ravers and breakdancers. Gaultier’s obsession with British street fashion prompted him to appropriate the subcultural MA-1 jacket and create a series of garments that subverted the jacket’s military heritage. The iconic nylon jackets and their orange quilted linings were reimagined as a collection of MA-1-style capes, biker jackets, umbrellas and even hats. Several Junior Gaultier MA-1 garments were featured in the Jean Paul Gaultier Autumn Winter 1988–9 ‘Robin des Bois’ (Robin Hood) show. For this jacket, Gaultier replaced the zip with poppers, emphasized the waist with darts, and eliminated the traditional ribbed hem to create a more fitted silhouette.
Polyamide, Polyester, Viscose
Archive no. 2017.321