Learn About the Lineage of the MA-1 Bomber Jacket From the Authorities at Alpha Industries

The ultimate example of both form and function: military bomber jackets — particularly the United States Navy MA-1 jacket with its knit trim and recognizable right-arm zip pocket — have transitioned from technical garments to world-wide fashion staples. During the course of the past few decades, the silhouette has been adopted by high fashion, fast fashion and everything in between. During that time, the Alpha Industries MA-1 has become emblematic of this transition. The bomber’s military heritage, durable construction and recognizable accents have made it the choice of designers around the world to customize, deconstruct and collaborate on. But the MA-1 isn’t the only piece of government commissioned clothing to have made it to the runway in recent years. Renditions of the M-65 field coat and takes on the N3-B and N2-B parkas are equally visible on blogs, in magazines, and on celebrities, having been repurposed both in terms of their aesthetic as well as what they represent.

To fully understand the story behind these pieces as well as how and why they’ve become a part of popular culture today, HYPEBEAST made its way down to Washington, D.C. to meet with the masterminds at Alpha Industries. There, we sat down with CEO Mike Cirker, VP of Marketing Matthew Pantoja, and VP of Product Angelyn Fernandez, and took a look at the Alpha archive to understand just how these pieces of outerwear evolved into what they are today.

When you’re done getting your history lesson from our video above, head over to the Alpha Industries website to learn more about its complete line of outerwear.