With Fall just around the corner, I’m always interested to see what the latest coat options are for the colder weather. Someone who I’ve gone to for outerwear advice for years is my friend Alex Rakestraw. I met Alex a while back when he interviewed me for a HighSnobiety article. Alex and I immediately hit it off and we have kept in touch ever since. I decided it would be fun to ask Alex a few questions about his fascinating and very informative new Instagram account.
DH: I’ve found @coatchecking to be a very helpful resource for news and info on the latest outerwear – how did you come up with the idea?
AR: Urban take on outdoorswear and all that? For better or for worse, I was doing it already. I’ve always lived in this space between worlds where I’m the most boring-looking dude at fashion parties and the “New York style guy” at outdoors stuff. When friends would go hiking or skiing, they’d ask for my gear reco’s – but it always came with one eye on what looks good at sea level. I was answering enough questions that I decided to start writing up proper reviews, and close to a year later, here we are.
DH: I remember we first met a few years back while you were still in undergrad at the University of Michigan and writing for HighSnobiety – how has life changed for you since your college days?
AR: No more 3am pizzas. Also, sometimes I just wake up and my knee hurts. Otherwise? About the same. Jokes, but the blessing and the curse of hitting the ground running in college is that your post-grad starts to feel like undergrad, just at a higher gear. Back then, it was #bloglife and interning summers in New York. Now, it’s writing, Coatchecking, and my day job at Deutsch NY, plus living here for real. 18-year-old me threw the luckiest dice roll ever by reflecting on what he liked doing, then having the excited naivety to chase it until it became a career. I just wish he were easier on his joints.
DH: How many coats do you actually have?
AR: Thanks for asking, I appreciate it. (Somewhere ~150)
DH: What’s your favorite outerwear brand and why?
AR: I’m gonna cheat and give multiple answers.
For daily wear: The North Face. They’re got a pulse on design for urban environments that no other big brand can touch.
For the mountains: Norrona. They’re a Norwegian brand that produces consistently great hardcore product and selfishly, it fits me (a 6’4″ beanpole) pretty darn well.
And finally, for a #undertheradar pick: Holden Outerwear, out of Venice, CA. They’ve got an insane FW20 line-up that hits somewhere between visvim and Burton. Check ’em out.
DH: What’s the wildest wear-test expedition you went on to review a jacket?AR: I’m not much of a press trip guy due to my day job, but I’ve done a few high peaks in Colorado that cemented the Atom LT as The Jacket at the End of the World in my book. I did 16 miles through snow up to 14,400′ in an Atom and a fleece, and oh shit, it actually looks decent with black jeans. I’m a fool in love with my (now third) Atom.
Make sure to follow @coatchecking.
