Donkey Jacket. Heavy duty fashion

Autumn highlights and nothing can sparkle more than the glitterati dressed in designer garb at Fashion Week. Wow the juggernaut that is Fashion Week is still driving around the world from New York across the Atlantic Ocean to London, Milan and Paris. TV, music and movie celebrities strutted their stuff on arrival, down the runway and on the front row. Stand-out moments included those iconic much-loved Ad Fab darlings Patsy and Edina at the Burberry front row in London and the 'face to face' meeting of the fictitious Runway editor-in-chief, Miranda Priestly in Devil Wears Prada and a real life American Vogue stalwart.

 

I've been following online and on social media and amazingly the stand-out moment for me was a reel featuring a well-known English actor at the Burberry show sporting what was once known as a 'Donkey Jacket'.


Since its creation, the Donkey Jacket has continued to be synonymous with the British working man and subsequently appropriated by a certain strand of youth culture through the decades including 'Teddy Boys' in the 50s & 60s followed by Skinheads and Punks through the 70s. Round and around goes the fashion wheel of fortune.

 

Vintage Fashion. Return of the Donkey Jacket. ©️patsfocus

 Fact Checking...
what would we do without Google and Wikipedia

👀👀👀

  • View Burberry Brand ambassadors> Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Jason Statham at the Burberry Summer 2026 show. Jason Statham (famous for appearing in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and The Transporter film series.
  • The Devil Wears Prada starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci, and Emily Blunt.
  • AdFab starring Jennifer Saunders and Johanna Lumley
  • Donkey jacket A "worker in a donkey jacket" refers to a manual laborer wearing a specific type of heavy, durable coat, often made of wool with reinforced leather or PVC shoulders and back, used by workers like dockers, coal miners, and construction workers for protection against cold and carrying loads. The name "donkey jacket" originates from the workers who carried heavy loads, or the "donkey engines" used in the construction of the Manchester Ship Canal." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_jacket )
  • Vogue Magazine. "The current editor-in-chief of Vogue is Chloe Malle, who took over the role in September 2025, succeeding Anna Wintour. While Wintour stepped down from the American Vogue editor-in-chief position after 37 years, she remains as Vogue's Global Editorial Director and Chief Content Officer for Condé Nast, the parent company."
Focus Fashion Notes. Copyright Pat Adams @patsfocus
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Other brands may be  available 
Article & Illustration © Pats Focus Fashion Notes. 
Please note this is my recollection of the decades, not a sponsored post

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