An Adolphe Lafont black moleskin work jacket, estimated to date from the 1940s.
A special acquisition.
Adolphe Lafont remains among the most sought-after names in French workwear.
The house was founded in 1844 in Lyon by Adolphe Lafont, a merchant. What began as a textile shop evolved significantly when his son, Adolphe Benoît Lafont, established a tailoring workshop in 1875.
It was the grandson, also named Adolphe Lafont, who initiated the manufacture of workwear garments.
The first pieces were carpenter trousers in corduroy.
He registered the trademark 'Adolphe Lafont Lyon' in 1896, and spent generations clothing the working man before his death in 1952.
Now we present from this nearly two-century heritage, one of French workwear's most enduring archetypes: the black moleskin jacket.
The moleskin jacket has become the definitive French work piece. The name derives, it is said, from the fabric's resemblance to mole skin—a texture one understands immediately upon touch.
The surface yields a smoothness and weight that belies its cotton composition.
The distinction lies in the weave.
Moleskin is constructed through what is known as satin weave—one of the three primary weaving structures.
In satin weave, composed of five or more warp and weft threads, the float of yarn is minimal, allowing only the warp or weft to present on the surface.
The result is a dense, thick fabric with considerable flexibility, a lustrous hand, and a subtle sheen.
It was precisely this combination—high density, thickness, and flexibility—that made moleskin the choice for workwear, the fabric demanded by men laboring in unforgiving conditions.
Black moleskin is considerably scarcer than its blue counterpart, and this jacket exploits it generously.
The practical universality of black accounts for the number of collectors seeking it.
Having served its original purpose as legitimate workwear, its functional integrity is beyond question.
Black moleskin work jackets, regardless of era, maker, or condition, are sparsely encountered. Those bearing the Adolphe Lafont name are rarer still.
Inside, one finds an embroidered label—a marker of earlier Adolphe Lafont pieces and increasingly uncommon in examples of this age.
Adolphe Lafont holds a particular standing within French workwear discourse.
Its value consistently exceeds other makers, and the older the example, the greater its rarity.
No size marking is present, though its proportions suggest an equivalent to modern M–L.
The measurements reflect what might be called a golden size for the Japanese frame—a piece that accommodates varied proportions and reads well whether worn close or loose.
The jacket bears the expected marks of its working life—soiling, abrasion, minor fraying, small tears—yet these do not compromise wear. The patina is honest and legible, and for those inclined, further repair and restoration would only deepen its story.
Adolphe Lafont occupies an indispensable place in any discussion of French workwear.
Early examples have become genuinely scarce.
Worthy equally as a functional piece or a collection object.
A black moleskin jacket from Adolphe Lafont, bearing an early embroidered label, arrives perhaps once yearly. Should this speak to you, the opportunity is now.
