I have wanted to make this jacket for a while. Like… a while.
Bombers were everywhere, which usually makes me want to run in the opposite direction, but I kept coming back to them.
The shape. The swagger. The slightly masculine vibe.
But what does a bomber look like after Carve gets its hands on it?
And then Bailey brought in this photo of her grandpa in his old security uniform jacket from the ’50s.
That was it.
Slightly old-school. Utilitarian. A little tough.
We started pulling from vintage military jackets, old uniforms, bombers, weird patches, old ski stuff. Suddenly there were 99 screenshots in a folder and everyone had an opinion about ribbing.
The fit – I wanted it oversized, but not giant. Cropped, but not like a JLo back up dancer. Tomboyish, but still hot. The final shape has enough volume to feel like an actual bomber, but hits where it actually works for a woman's body.
And because I cannot leave anything alone, then we started talking about the collar.
Guys, the faux-fur collar is fucking dope. Can I say that here? Whatever, it's true.
We tried it and I was immediately like, yep.
Then Amy said, “What if it’s removable?”
I died.
Without it, the jacket gets cleaner and more classic. Snap it back on and the whole vibe gets louder. I like clothes that let you change your mood. Especially when both options are good.
The custom patches are like tiny Carve artifacts.
The mountain and sun is basically our happy place. The Sausalito patch is home. And LOVE had to be there because "love" is probably my favorite word. I literally have it tattooed in tiny letters on my arm, so yea it was definitely making it on the Maverick.
They all come from our world. East Coast meets West, mountains, ocean, the things we actually care about.
Then, we had to figure out how to make the whole thing responsibly. That isn't a box we tick after we make something cool. It's one of the first questions.
We landed on a shell made from 100% recycled nylon, which gave us the soft, slightly satiny finish we wanted without going back to virgin nylon.
So yes, we spent a lot of time making this jacket look really freaking cool.
We also nerded out over recycled nylon.
Welcome to Carve.
The name, Maverick?
A completely original name with absolutely no cultural references whatsoever.
Moving on.
When the final sample came in, I seriously freaked out.
This is the rad part about designing clothes. You spend months looking at sketches and swatches, changing proportions, moving a patch half an inch, talking about collar options... and at some point an actual jacket shows up.
And occasionally you put it on and there isn't much left to discuss.
That was Maverick.
I instantly started mentally styling it.
My official design assessment: probs the coolest freaking jacket we’ve ever made.