Swedish raincoats from Stutterheim

To go with the Rachel Comey rain boots from yesterday, I have been in search of a great rain jacket. Not too shiny, not too tech-y, not too short and most importantly, no Velcro!

On my first year in Portland, my rain jacket was actually a ski jacket shell that was covered in Velcro and wreaked havoc on all my beautiful knit scarves and even the sweaters I had on underneath. After that year, I upgraded to a Gore-tex zip up that while great in rain felt like I was wearing a plastic bag the rest of the time and it only went to my waist, which was a major problem. Last year I found a great fishtail jacket with a hood, generous length and no Velcro. Problem is if it's really really raining, it's only a coated cotton, so it doesn't always hold up so well. And I always wish it had a little bit of lining, a shell isn't always so warm.

Fortunately, I recently found the perfect raincoat. Unfortunately, it is close to $700.

Stutterheim raincoats are handmade in Borås, Sweden (birthplace of my one and only) and even bear the signature of the seamstress sewing them together.  Alexander Stutterheim started making raincoats out of his apartment after he found his grandfather's old one and decided to replicate it with a better fit...or so the story goes. He insists there is
"no Gore-tex. no Velcro. no mass production. no straps or strings dangling from every seam."

He even goes so far as to bill it as
"the last raincoat you will ever need."

Their tagline is "melancholy at its driest" and he means it, all seams are taped and it is wind and waterproof, yet so streamlined in its design.  I guess Stutterheim decided the only way to live with all the rain in Scandinavia is to embrace it.

Out in the elements

The good news is that the unlined version, the Stockholm, is $295 (only!) while the Arholma, the one with lining, is $695 on the American site. Prices in Swedish kronor aren't much lower: $200 and $600 respectively. Guess that's the price of being made in Sweden versus made in China; it's true. And from what I can tell the shipping to the US is free.

They also have a boutique in Stockholm called Regn (rain in Swedish), which sounds amazing. Word is that Stutterheim is working on a rain boot prototype, again with the highest quality in mind. Haven't seen photos yet but will be sure to share them once I have. Stutterheim raincoats can be found here. And be sure to read his story too, he's quite a quirky guy.

Stutterheim couple