Menswear: Take flight with Canada Goose

Canada Goose ‘Mystique’ in military green €1,195

Canada Goose has well and truly landed in Ireland. The luxury brand is the Rolls Royce equivalent in the arena of performance outerwear like coats, parkas, and jackets filled with down and trimmed with coyote fur. Their latest store is on Grafton Street, one of the country’s premium shopping streets.

It’s interesting, to say the least, to open a store at a time like this. The outbreak of the coronavirus plunged most shopping districts across the globe into an eerily quiet purgatory. Boston Consulting Group estimates that fashion retailer sales will contract by up to 35% in 2020 compared with last year.

A little optimism goes a long way.

“We saw the right opportunity on Grafton Street and are excited to have another way to connect to the Irish consumer; telling our story directly,” said Pat Sherlock, president of international market for Britain and Europe at Canada Goose.

“Canada Goose really resonates in Ireland. We’re a performance luxury brand and our consumers in Ireland truly seem to ‘get’ what we stand for; our authentic heritage and the proven functionality of our product.”

Canada Goose has long been a fixation for Irish men, available both online and in-store at Brown Thomas outposts across the country. They appeal to the everyman, from lightweight down jackets to cooler parkas in camouflage prints and fur-trimmed collars. The jackets are stylish, typically streamlined in design whether it be a parka designed for Arctic temperatures or lightweight down for an afternoon sauntering around town.

The Canada Goose Standard Expedition parka will exclusively launch in the new Dublin store in January

The logo: a red and white circle with an inverted image of the North Pole and stitched with the brand name and maple leaves is an emblem of cult appeal. To see one, to wear one, is to be ‘in the know’.

The store comes with the promise of adapting the retail experience to COVID-19 but also re-asserting what they excel at: seasonal collections consisting of jackets, knitwear and other cold-weather apparel designed with cooler climates in mind.

One feature includes customisable brims for certain styles of jackets. The interchangeable accessory is available as a reversible trim accented with a reflective wordmark logo and stripes on one side, colours in retina-searing orange, optic white, and camouflage patterns. This is a first for their Ireland stores.

Secondly, they will offer a personal shopping experience in which customers can book a time slot convenient to them. They will be assigned a dedicated ‘brand ambassador’ in-store who will curate a selection of products in their size given their desire. A waitlist service permits customers to avoid the all-too-familiar queues that have emerged as a result of socially-distant shopping experiences.

Canada Goose ‘Chilliwack’ €875

A store-exclusive of the Standard Expedition Parka launches in January. The coat will use recycled and undyed fabrics, lining and interlining, and “100 percent” responsibly-sourced down and reclaimed fur. According to the brand, the coat generates 30%less carbon, based on footprint, compared to the Expedition parka, something Sherlock said “exemplifies our strategy and commitment to sustainability”.

The use of fur and down has been subject to criticism from anti-fur protestors. In April, the brand announced it will no longer buy new fur from trappers. In its place, they will replace it with reclaimed fur that already exists in their supply chain. Already the brand insists it reaps fur ethically but this is a further step in their corporate responsibility agenda, a growing trend towards environmental consciousness.

“We make real products that work; our jackets have been informed by those who live and work in the harshest elements. People around the world, men and women alike, are drawn to the protection that we provide, without compromising on style,” said Sherlock.

Canada Goose was founded by Sam Tick, a Polish-Jewish immigrant, in a small Toronto warehouse in 1957.

Canada Goose ‘Mystique’ in military green €1,195

Designed in response to the rugged conditions arising from Arctic weather, the luxury apparel The company would become an industry heavyweight with 26 flagship outposts across three continents in addition to a number of wholesale outlets.

In 2016 the company became publicly traded though it refused to succumb to relocating manufacturing elsewhere, remaining committed to its Made in Canada provenance. Sherlock said: “We are proud to be an ambassador of Canada. A Canada Goose jacket made in Canada, is like a Swiss watch made in Switzerland — it’s intrinsic to the product.”

Not only has the label amassed celebrity fans such Daniel Craig and Drake (film stars are known to wear the Mystique parka between takes), but it is favoured by scientists working in McMurdo Station, Antarctica (the Chilliwack jacket and Expedition parka are commonly worn in the coldest places on the planet, designed as they are to withstand such conditions).

In 1982, Laurie Skreslet became the first Canadian to summit Mount Everest. He did so wearing a custom parka by Canada Goose.

To return to that Rolls Royce analogy, buying a Canada Goose jacket is akin to purchasing an automobile.

The expectation is that you are investing in something that will endure the elements and, for the style-conscious, the tremulous nature of fashion trends. Some will see it as a lifetime purchase, others will update theirs every few years.

Sherlock noted: “One thing we believe to be true, now more than ever, is that people are looking for products that work and last for years, not seasons — like our products are designed for.”