From Stitch to Screen Drive’s Bomber Jacket
We discuss the origins, virtues and potential pitfalls of the silver screen’s most iconic styles
Words by Will HALBERT
First, a preface: ‘Iconic’ is a silly little word. Toothless, overused, and bandied about to the point of near meaningless. But in the realm of silver screen style, you might concede that there are certain pieces or outfits that deserve the title. Travis Bickle’s M-65, Johnny Strabler’s leather jacket, Jim Stark’s harrington, they all belong to a stylistic canon that – gun to your head – you would be forgiven for describing as ‘iconic’.
The scorpion-embroidered, satin bomber jacket seen in Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 cult favourite, Drive, is a modern entry into that said same canon. Alongside the bombastic synth beats of the film’s soundtrack and Ryan Gosling’s impeccably vacant stare and awkward smile, the bomber jacket has become one of the film’s most enduring features. Sure, it’s a bold and brazen little number that would border on the ridiculous in most real life scenarios, but it pairs perfectly with the neon-drenched hyper-violence of Refn’s cinematic vision.
‘Sure, it’s a bold and brazen little number that would border on the ridiculous in most real life scenarios, but it pairs perfectly with the neon-drenched hyper-violence of Refn’s cinematic vision.’
But how exactly did the jacket come to be? Erin Benach, lead costume designer on Drive sheds some light on the process behind the piece: ‘We were inspired by a Korean souvenir jacket from the early 1950s,’ Erin recalls. ‘We changed the shape, of course: square inset shoulders instead of raglan sleeves. And we altered the technique of the quilting to be proper cross hatch quilting. We also designed our own embroidery: The scorpion.’
The result was a statement piece that made an immediate impression: ‘On the very first day of shooting,’ says Erin, ‘the Director of Photography panned the camera up Ryan from the back very slowly. I was sitting behind a monitor at the time and I got very kind of hot and agitated. I felt like people were looking at me on set. That was the moment I realized something big was going to happen with this jacket.’
Unlike the timeless, effortless classicism of the wardrobes of Taxi Driver, The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause, however, Drive’s satin bomber possesses a certain aesthetic loudness that makes it pretty hard to work into your regular outfit rotations. ‘We tested about 25 different white and silver satin swatches at the camera test one week before we started shooting. We knew it would be bright, but we also felt like it was important to the story and well in fitting with the movie’s aesthetic’.
And there’s the kicker: Los Angeles has quite the knack for pulling off some pretty outlandish looks with enviable ease, especially in the movies. But on our rain-slicked and perpetually overcast shores? The Drive jacket shifts from California steez to Blackpool kitch in a New York minute. Regardless, the jacket has seen a steady run of replicas in the years following Drive’s release, and Erin is humble in her response to their varying levels of quality: ‘I’ve seen it copied millions of times, some good and some, well, not so good,’ jokes Erin. ‘All I ask is that it’s copied properly and looks good. I don’t want to see a bunch of crappy knock offs.’
The takeaway here, I suppose, is that the classics are classics for good reason, but they also have a time and a place. More often than not, that place is on the film set and not – despite our strongest impulses to the contrary – in our wardrobes. The Drive jacket shows us how a few wise design decisions can elevate a film from a quick hit to a solid classic, but it’s also a warning that just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. The same goes for the use of the word ‘iconic’. EJ
