Nicholas Daley Railroad Parka

Loop, or bouclé, is a cloth made from a yarn spun with deliberate loops standing out along its length, so the surface of the finished fabric is a field of small curls rather than a flat plane. Press that cloth and the loops are flattened and set, which produces something with the depth of a pile fabric and the density of a felt, and which catches light in a way no flat weave manages. Do it in mohair and the surface becomes genuinely difficult to photograph and very easy to recognise. Mohair is goat hair rather than sheep’s wool, taken from the angora goat, and the difference is not academic: it carries a natural lustre, so it returns light where wool absorbs it, and it has enough spring to hold a pressed surface open instead of letting it settle flat.

That is what this coat is made of, woven bespoke in Scotland to Daley’s specification, which is the part that matters. Buying an unusual cloth is one thing. Having one made is another, and it is what separates this house from most of the people it is shelved beside. The body is mohair all the way through, rather than a wool cloth with a third of it mohair for the shine, which is the usual arrangement. The colour is purple, which is a decision nobody makes lightly on outerwear, and the mohair is what saves it: the lustre keeps the purple from going flat and dead, and it reads as a deep, shifting colour rather than as a statement.

The cut is a parka and the details are minimal: two front pockets, a cotton lining, and nothing else competing with the fabric. The lining is the quiet decision. A dense pressed loop worn against a shirt would drag on everything put under it, and a plain cotton lining is what lets a coat this heavy go on and off over a jacket.

Why we selected it

We bought this for the cloth, which is unlike anything else being woven, and because the coat around it has the sense to get out of the way. It is also the piece that most clearly demonstrates what Daley’s relationship with the Scottish mills actually buys him, which is fabric that does not exist anywhere else.

Nicholas Daley has his cloth woven to his own specification by Scottish mills, and this parka is the most extreme thing that arrangement has produced.

Materials and construction

Body one hundred percent mohair. Lining one hundred percent cotton. Made in England, in a pressed mohair loop woven bespoke in Scotland. Two front pockets. Colour: Purple.

Fit notes

A parka, so it is cut long and generous and drafted to go over other layers rather than against a shirt. A pressed loop cloth of this density has body and will hold its own shape rather than draping, which means the coat keeps its line whether or not there is much underneath it. Mohair has more spring in it than wool, so the cloth recovers after a day of sitting rather than keeping the fold. Take your usual size unless you intend to wear it over tailoring.

Styling

Over the Fonte Jacket, or over the Waffle Rollneck in chocolate with the Pleated Trouser in black. Purple at this depth is closer to a neutral than it sounds and will take black, navy, ecru, and indigo underneath. Not the tartans.

Care

Brush it, hang it on a shaped hanger, and air it between wearings. A pressed loop surface holds dust in its texture, so brushing matters more here than on a flat cloth. Take it to a good cleaner only when it genuinely needs one, and choose one that has handled a pile or loop fabric before, because a careless press will flatten the surface permanently and mohair takes a shine under a hot iron that it does not lose. Mohair is a hair fibre and moths will eat it, so the coat goes away clean at the end of the season rather than dirty. Our fabric care guidance covers the rest.

Related pieces

The 70s Trouser in purple mohair is the trouser in a Scottish mohair. The Oversized Rain Coat is the waxed cotton outerwear, the Lavenham Sashiko Jacket the quilted jacket, and the Waffle Roll Neck in chocolate the knit under it. Everything we carry from Nicholas Daley is listed together.