Jul 10

Jul 10 Goldwin MA-1 (2018)

Alex Rakestraw

Shell, Review, Lifestyle

Goldwin MA-1 (2018)

Type: Shell / Use: Lifestyle / Face: Nylon / Insulation: n/a

Technologies: PERTEX Unlimited 2L

Price: $440.00

Hey, it’s a black techwear bomber jacket!

Let’s make William Gibson references and call it a day!

No, that’d be the easy way out. If you’re gonna review a bomber, you’ve gotta keep it short. Stylish. Cropped, even. With the occasional long-winded paragraph about the future of online marketing.

The civvies call it, “Goldwin MA-1.”

If you’re recognizing a pattern, it’s intentional.

That’s exactly how patterns work.

As much fun as it’d be to write this whole review in a Gibson voice, I’m neither talented enough nor Gibson enough to pull it off. Besides, there may be some of you out there unfamiliar with his work. That’s unlikely given this is a niche technical outerwear blog, but hey, tail events on the Internet.

Blue Ant.

Let’s just start at the top.

As the name implies, Goldwin’s MA-1 bomber is an explicitly techwear take on the staple flight jacket. Faced in a paper-like matte nylon, this stealthy, crinkly layering piece is elevated from its place of streetwear cliché to become something rather inspired. There’s a lot to love about the Goldwin MA-1. There’s also, ironically, just not that much to talk about.

Materials-wise, there’s a 2L Pertex Unlimited textile in front of a nylon taffeta lining.

Pertex Unlimited 2L is a fun one. It’s water-resistant, windproof, and more breathable than traditional tech fabrics. It is most certainly not waterproof. Instead of a fancy membrane forming one of the two layers, there’s a polyurethane (read: liquid plastic) coating on the back of that dry-touch outer. It may not get the capital-P “proof” designation. Paired with DWR and water-resistant zips, however, it’ll certainly keep you dry in everything short of a downpour.

Which isn’t a bad place to draw the line for, ya know. A cropped, hoodless lifestyle piece.

Functionally, the Goldwin MA-1 is in kind of a weird spot. Forget how cool it looks – we’ll get there in a second. Talking plain brass tacks, it’s three-quarters of the way to a proper rain jacket (rigid shell fabric; aquaphobic materials). But 75% is still a C-. There’s no hood, which is lovely for the silhouette but bad for showers. There’s also the crop – same benefit, same drawback. The few times I have been caught out in this, I’ve been as wet as I’ve been annoyed. What’s the endgame, Goldwin? When do I wear this jacket?

In my mind, the ideal weather for this technical tanker is 55° F and overcast with misting rains.

It’s wet enough to justify the rain shell, but not actively raining. It’s warm enough to justify a light jacket, but cool enough not to clam up in what’s still a weather-spec’d nylon 2L.

Am I describing April 25th?

No, Cayce Pollard. I’m describing (gasp) Vancouver.

There’s always an endgame. He didn’t know he was looking at it. On an empty street in Gastown, it stared back at him.

“So the whole point of this jacket is to look cool?”

“Yeah,” said the endgame, here played by Keanu Reeves as Johnny Mnemonic. “That’s it.”

This jacket was made by one of Japan’s sportswear giants – a sprawling, billion-yen megalith – for the express purpose of looking badass. It was quaint. Endgame wasn’t. Something didn’t sum.

He slid it on anxiously. Cautiously. Left it unzipped, just for quick exit.

“You’re telling me everything from the choice of a rigid matte rain shell, to the coated zip on the bicep pocket, to the oversized zipper pulls… had nothing to do with function? That it was all there to take a typical puffed-out MA-1 and make it look like a carbon knife?”

The endgame stared back. A bolt of lightning fizzled. Neon signs shot on, their glow scattered by the mist like an electron exit wound. Off-screen, Burial played.

“How you feel is the function.”

He felt like an arms dealer on a space station. He felt a nightclub architect. He felt like the first friend to buy an Apple Watch. It was the feeling of exceptionalism that comes with wearing everyday clothes special enough to let you believe you’re the hero of this whole rollercoaster, damnit.

It felt 55 F with overcast and misting rains.

It felt cool.

Black bombers are hella versatile style pieces. I won’t waste words telling you how and with what I wear it (by wearing it; everything). I will waste words getting all the way to this simple recommendation: if you’re looking for a tech-forwards bomber, the Goldwin MA-1 is your jacket. If not, it’s not.

Goldwin’s MA-1 is a perfectly fine light jacket that also happens to be borderline cyberpunk homage. I got it because of the latter.