The Detroit Jacket is Carhartt WIP’s most enduring garment. It started life as a workwear chore coat, was picked up by European street culture in the nineties, and has never left the line because it keeps selling to people who wear it until it falls apart and then buy another one.
The OG version is cut in a looser silhouette than the standard Detroit - more room across the chest and shoulders, which is what you want when you’re layering. The Grind Washed black denim has a faded, slightly uneven finish that looks worn from the start and gets better as it ages. Four large pockets, a button front, a small collar that sits flat. Nothing decorative.
The fabric is 12oz denim, which is heavy enough to feel substantial without being stiff. It softens quickly with wear and washing. Sized for European fits, which means it runs truer than you might expect from a workwear origin. Most people take their usual size. It works over a midlayer in spring and autumn, or as a standalone jacket on warmer evenings.
Carhartt WIP makes this in multiple colourways each season but the washed black is the version that makes most sense - it looks good immediately and improves rather than fades with use. At £235 it sits at the higher end of what most people pay for a denim jacket, but the construction and materials justify it when you’re comparing against something that costs less and lasts two or three years.