Heritage N3-B Parka
(The names of the people involved in the following incident have been changed to protect the innocent and their stupidity)
Picture the scene a group of young, well some of them, handsome, well ish and intelligent men, well maybe one, at a push two of them, in their prime, OK maybe prime is pushing it, are experiencing the many delights and beauty of the Polish city of Gdansk on a Cultural weekend away. Yes, these young fellows are soaking up the beauty of the city’s historic architecture, it’s culinary delights and the sites and sounds of its varied but extremely cold night life. Ahhhh the weather of Gdansk in March is something that very few people seem to warn, sorry inform you about prior to your visit and on this fresh and frosty trip the mercury wasn’t rising much above -16C.
So when this group of tired and weary travellers, saw a short cut back to their hotel, surely this was an opportunity not to be missed ? Alas, the short cut was via the Frozen straits of the Vistula River, was this as good an idea as it first seemed ? Half of the intrepid adventurers headed cautiously across the banks whereas the remaining gents, maybe the ones who hadn’t sampled as much of the liquid delights of the olde town had to offer took the high road.
Now this is where things got serious, from the safety of the bridge we started to hear a cracking and then a yell and one of the compadres, a Mr Adrian Cummins-Ham, had fallen through the ice and into the equally freezing water…. Thankfully, this happened, relatively near to the banks of the river and one, unusually for him, fast thinking cohorts, Mr Paul O’Monagle, bravely grabbed him, before the rapid currents managed to put him under the ice and drag him away !
Now, while all this was going on, what on earth does a Spiewak Parka have to do with the whole proceedings, I hear you ask ? Well, this was the item of outerwear, yours truly was wearing at the time and was able to gallantly but carefully toss the aforementioned Spiewak Parka down to his chums below so that his rather damp and shivering pal could wrap around himself for warmth and prevent exposure from setting in.
The Spiewak Parka in all its many glorious incarnations genuinely is a great piece of kit. Created by Isaac Spiewak, honestly, back in 1904 he started manufacturing handmade sheep-skin vests for stevedores, basically dockers, on the Brooklyn waterfront. Today, more than a century later, the company that Isaac began in working class Brooklyn endures as an iconic outfitter of utilitarian clothing for today. Trusted by the soldiers of WWI, WWII, police, firefighters and first responders all over the world.
More recently, the 110 year old American outer-wear brand, has launches the next chapter in its iconic history. The brand has transformed its heritage and molded it into a modern expression of classic utilitarian garments.
Industry veteran Maurizio Donadi is serving as the brand creative director and is leading all associated channels for the brand and bringing expertise and experience to guide the Spiewak brand vision into the future.
“The new Spiewak is an exercise in utility and simplicity. It’s a perfectly modern expression that fits the way people live now. We wanted people to experience these products and un- derstand them through the lens of current culture and then discover that the brand is over a hundred years old.” Said Donadi.
The Winter offerings will be split into two distinct product lines, the main Spiewak range which consists of outerwear that blends modern details, fabrics and shapes with distinct Spiewak styles and 2014 saw the launch of Spiewak Golden Fleece, an offering of the iconic Spiewak pieces from its archive. This heritage collection will be solely focused on recreating special pieces from Spiewak’s rich history.
