An ARNYS PARIS ‘Forestière’ jacket, estimated to date from around the 2000s.
A truly special piece has arrived.
ARNYS PARIS is a "legendary" maison in the history of French menswear, which opened its shop at 14 rue de Sèvres on the Left Bank of Paris in 1933.
Its origins lie with "
What makes ARNYS special is that it was never simply "a shop that made good clothes"; it distilled the very air of the Left Bank into clothing.
What ARNYS built was a style of its own: preserving the dignity of tailoring while combining a relaxed use of colour, the sensibility of English tweeds and sportswear, and a very French sense of chic.
As its location suggests, it was loved as "an atelier and salon for the well-dressed", and became bound up with the memory of how intellectuals and cultural figures dressed.
The piece spoken of as its symbol is the jacket synonymous with ARNYS: ‘La Forestière’.
That it was born in 1947, after the architect Le Corbusier asked for ‘a jacket that does not pull when you raise your arms, one you can work in in the city’:
A neckline that seems to have shed its collar, pattern-making that follows the body's movement, a presence in which the rationality of the work jacket melts into Parisian élan: its accomplishment is such that a single garment explains the ARNYS philosophy.
Then in 2012 ARNYS came under LVMH, and the boutique on rue de Sèvres was turned into a flagship for Berluti.
"The air of the era when the Left Bank's aesthetic was at its richest"
In truth, few brands give you both at once.
Classic, yet somehow rebellious.
Clothing that elevates not the wearer's title, but the way the wearer lives. That is what ARNYS is.
The ARNYS pieces we present, too, are never merely "good old clothes".
What rises up the moment you put it on is the intellect and élan nurtured on the Left Bank of the Seine, and the ease of French tailoring.
Holding that contradiction together is the true essence of ARNYS.
Now, the piece we present here is the ARNYS model whose price has risen most steeply, and the one most people are searching for.
The "Forestière (keeper of the woods)", the house's casual standard, is said to have begun in 1947 as a special custom order for "Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret)", the master of modern architectural theory.
Le Corbusier, the story goes, was looking for a comfortable, stylish jacket that would not get in the way as he raised and lowered his arms while writing or sketching on a blackboard or drawing board.
The story goes that it all began when he found his inspiration in the Sologne hunting jacket worn by the gamekeeper, played by the actor Gaston Modot, in Jean Renoir's 1939 French film ‘La Règle du Jeu (The Rules of the Game)’, and commissioned one from "Léon Grimbert", the second head of ARNYS.
The Forestière is therefore designed with freedom of movement as its first priority.
The sleeve uses a pattern of its own, known as the ‘Manche Pivot (pivot sleeve)’.
Taking its cue from the kimono sleeve, this construction is the opposite of conventional tailoring: by pairing a very wide armhole with a sleeve of constant width, it achieves a remarkable range of movement, so the jacket does not pull even when you raise your arms.
The Forestière Le Corbusier himself commissioned is said to have had a black corduroy shell and a black silk lining, faithfully reflecting the architect's taste for black clothing.
Le Corbusier managed his own archive carefully, and the scarcity of photographs of him wearing the Forestière is thought to have been deliberate, to protect his idealised intellectual image.
In the 1950s the Forestière was introduced into the house's own prêt-à-porter (luxury ready-to-wear) line, and it quickly became synonymous with the brand.
According to Dominique Lelys, who was involved in ARNYS's creations at the time, the early Forestière had padding and a relatively straight silhouette, but when it was reworked with the padding removed and the shoulders dropped, it became a runaway success, growing into the house's flagship product and accounting for as much as 50% of ARNYS's sales.
Over the years its shape was refined further, arriving at today's stand collar (Mao collar).
This piece dates from around the 2000s, a period that might be called the Forestière's mature form.
The label sewn inside the lining proudly bears the words ‘Veste "FORESTIERE" / Modèle créé par ARNYS en 1947 / CONFORME A L'ORIGINAL’.
The declaration, ‘A model created by ARNYS in 1947. True to the original.’, is the clearest proof that this is a genuine Forestière.
Let us look again at the details that define the model.
The first thing to catch the eye is the stand collar, the Forestière's most recognisable signature.
The five front buttons, set high, are four-hole buttons stamped "ARNYS PARIS".
These have an honesty that recalls its origins as a work jacket, and if anything we like them all the more.
There are three pockets in all: a patch pocket on the left chest only, and two large patch pockets at the hips.
The hip pockets are rounded at the corners, a fine meeting of work-jacket practicality and the élan of the maison.
Elbow patches are added at the elbows.
This piece uses reinforcements in the same cloth; a sound detail drawn from workwear that adds just a hint of ‘the trace of handwork’ to its intellectual bearing.
The inside, too, holds a thoughtful touch of ARNYS playfulness.
This piece is unlined, but the gingham check bias tape used to finish the inner seam allowances catches the eye.
The fine "white × navy" check is wonderfully smart against the impeccable herringbone of the outside.
This sense of ‘hiding play precisely where it cannot be seen from outside’.
The fabric is an HBT (herringbone twill) weave of "55% silk × 45% wool".
The luxurious composition, with silk outweighing wool, gives this cloth a dignity of its own.
To the warmth and body of wool are added the supple sheen and drape particular to silk, so that within a form true to the work jacket, a somehow dressy lustre lives alongside.
The Forestière is best known in corduroy or cotton, but the choice of "silk × wool" gives it a far dressier air, and could be said to widen the possibilities of the Forestière further still.
The colour is a versatile "silver grey" herringbone.
ARNYS pieces are known for the house's own bold colour schemes, but this one has a neutral colouring that suits relatively any styling.
For anyone thinking, ‘I want an ARNYS Forestière, but I'd like to start with an easy colour’, there could hardly be a better choice.
The distinctive ARNYS colourways are of course very appealing, but for a first piece, this basic colour is the right answer.
Marked size "48"
Judging by the actual measurements, it is an ideal size for Japanese builds and should suit a wide range of frames.
By its very design philosophy, the Forestière is characterised by a relaxed fit.
Some may find it feels larger than the size on the label, but that is precisely so you can enjoy the Forestière's original ‘loose, easy silhouette’.
There are signs of use such as soiling, pilling, abrasion, fraying and small holes, but no significant damage that would affect wear, so it has plenty of life left in it.
Whatever the era or model, its very appearance on the market has become extremely rare: "ARNYS PARIS", a brand that is no more.
This piece is a rare example made in France, the house's home country.
What is more, it is a "silk × wool" herringbone, an unusual material for a Forestière.
In recent years the brand has again been featured in magazines and elsewhere; though it no longer exists, its value continues to climb.
As a front-line piece in your wardrobe, and also as a collector's item or a source of design reference.
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