Free Press: The Official Bills Khakis Newsletter

The Bills Khakis Berkshire Jacket. The Last of the Mohicans.

This Fall, Bills Khakis introduces the Berkshire Jacket – our first collaborative effort with fellow Pennsylvania based Woolrich & Co., who has been weaving fabric and producing garments in the United States for nearly two centuries. Over those 178 years, Woolrich has outfitted America’s expansion west, expeditions to the bottom (Antarctica) and top of the world (Mt. Everest) and even supplied armies. To be working with a company with such great history is truly humbling. We conceived the Berkshire Jacket while searching deep in the original factory archives at Woolrich. Our inspiration was the original “Cruiser” jacket, a throwback to the early 20th century. The Berkshire Jacket distinguishes itself from the Cruiser at the lapel, which can be worn down or flipped up, exposing the harvest corduroy under-collar.

The bittersweet portion of this story is that our Berkshire Jacket will be one of the last garments to be cut & sewn by Woolrich in the United States. Shortly after the last Berkshire Jacket is made for Fall 2008 delivery, Woolrich’s last remaining cut & sewing facility in the U.S. will close its doors. While Woolrich will continue to weave fabrics here in the U.S. just as they have since 1830, the Berkshire Jacket will signify the end of an era for a company that has known many. For the garment to bear the name Bills Khakis is an honor we would rather not have.

This brings to question future collaborations between our two companies. Rest assured, we have already taken steps to locate new domestic facilities to cut & sew the fabrics we plan to develop in the coming years with Woolrich.