Coveting Freedom

“You wore an ordinary overcoat, no hat. And in spite of that, we liked each other very much.” “We’ve had terrific get-togethers,” responded Cecil Beaton to Samuel Green in the drawing room of the suite that Beaton had decorated at the now historic New York landmark, The Pierre Hotel on the Upper East Side. The April 1978 issue of Interview featured the virtuoso hippy de luxe interior designer Suzie Frankfurt, who was present at the exchange; when she chimed in with, “I’m sure meeting Cecil changes everything,” Green retorted, “I was terribly unsophisticated before I met Cecil.”

Encompassing a nose for bold-faced names with wealth, mainly for a clique of transatlantic artists, Green concocted pivotal roles, first as a curator, then an art dealer, and more influentially as a salient proponent of the early promotion of Pop Art. In the interview, Frankfurt asked Beaton about Green, “Where did you two meet?” Beaton: “Oh, about twelve years ago. He was running around doing chores for me.”

It would be inconceivable not to place Beaton on the apex pedestal of the term “elegance”, a word that would incorporate fashion, design, photography, writing, decoration, and socialite – a Renaissance patriarch of the 20th century. In the aforementioned issue of Interview, Frankfurt went on to comment to Beaton: “I saw you once on Pelham Place (his London address) in a big black fedora and velvet cape. You looked like you stepped right out of a Beau Brummell soiree for the Prince of Wales.” This would be an apt assertion, but Beaton, leaving his 8 Pelham Place home, was famously photographed wearing a garment incorporating a different design of velvet, a covert coat.

Classic, dandyish and rebellious would be three terms to attribute to Beaton’s own fashion style. In 1955, during his brief three-second walk to where his car was waiting, he glanced back at his front door; his attire was effortlessly classic, featuring a white shirt, tie, bowler hat, leather gloves and a wooden stick, with that covert coat completing London’s formal ‘50s business dress. Among the myriad of gentlemen’s overcoats, the covert coat is distinguished by its single-breasted design, occasionally with a fly front (the buttons are concealed), notched lapel, stitching lines at the cuffs and hem, slanted flap pockets, centre vent, velvet collar (which can also be omitted) and poacher’s pocket.

On a brisk winter’s day in London, as he walked up the entrance steps to St Paul’s, Anthony Eden, with his custom moustache, black Oxford brogues and a dark grey chalkstripe suit, while nonchalantly holding his bowler hat, perfectly encapsulated the professionalism associated with the covert coat. Arguably, Eden envisioned and saw the aesthetical merits of sartorial menswear differently from others. He was not rebellious; rather, he possessed an inherent ability to dress with utmost poise while incorporating creative adjustments, which is even more remarkable considering he maintained this unwavering demeanour during his time as a British statesman.

However, the covert coat extends beyond upper-class rural pursuits and is found outside parliament, Wall Street or the square mile, thanks to a select few forward-thinking sartorial menswear designers, such as Alexander Kraft. Covert cloth, from the French “couvert” (covered), is a heavy tweed named after the covered area, rich in wildlife game, that would serve as a starting point on a hunt. And so the coat traditionally, and still to a degree in some menswear environments, is crafted from a stiff and rigid fabric. It has a hint of rebelliousness in the realms of heritage garb, and it wouldn’t be straightforward, aside perhaps from Ralph Lauren and Cording’s (remarkably, where Eric Clapton is now co-owner and revels in his covert coat), to identify an iteration that elicits both superior craftsmanship and the utmost comfortability, and all with an added touch of flair.

Cashmere is a rare, timeless and precious fibre obtained exclusively from the duvet of Capra Hircus, or cashmere goats; thus, it’s the golden ticket moniker for late autumn and beyond on the continent. The AK MC 100% cashmere covert coat, the fabric personally selected from a world-renowned Northern Italian mill, is a testament to the coveted enactment of casual elegance that AK MC continues to inspire.

As the spectrum of exploits in autumn expands, the lightweight, warm, undeniably comfortable, shorter, trimmer and less boxy covert coat is paramount when safely sustaining frequent travel for engagements spanning from board meetings in Paris or country jaunts to Connecticut to a longer holiday or business sojourn in Monaco.

Cut for a slimmer fit and featuring the AK MC custom contrasting red silk lining and under-collar felt in red, with an embroidered AK MC logo, this reinvented beige cashmere covert coat is deliberately designed to merge seamlessly with a majority of the AK MC accompaniments, such as the Gurkha trousers, Perfect jeans, Belgian loafers, and even the roll neck sweater, which harmoniously nests beneath the utterly innovative covert coat.