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W e might be enjoying a moment of relative balm, but it surely won’t last long if recent weather forecasts for the UK are anything to go by. Take Glastonbury next week: night-time temperatures are expected to fall as low as 11C. With that in mind, your shorts choice is less important.

Instead, this is shaping up to be the summer of the jacket, and one in particular is leading the pack: the barn jacket. The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.



Learn more. Versatile and hardy, the boxy big-pocketed design – which has its roots in French workwear , with brands including Carhartt giving them an American spin from the 1920s onwards – it is the perfect outerwear for a summer that can’t make up its mind. View image in fullscreen A barn jacket on the Fendi catwalk for AW24.

Photograph: WWD/Getty Images Carhartt’s Detroit jacket – a classic of the genre that dates back to 1954 – was the fifth Hottest Product of the first quarter of 2024, according to trend analysts Lyst , with searches up 410%. Searches for barn jackets are also up 18% on Depop, since Prada put a barn jacket on the catwalk in February. Other brands including Fendi (pictured above) and Loewe have made versions too, and there are more affordable options from Everlane and Other Stories.

The endorsement of celebrities including Kaia Gerber, Katie Holmes and Hailey Bieber no doubt boosts its chances to become the jacket of the summer.

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