The 10 Best Peacoats to Elevate Your Wardrobe to Leading-Man Status (2024)

Mackintosh may be most well-known for its raincoats—an innately British boast given the perpetually drizzly conditions there. In the early 19th century, Scottish chemist Charles Mackintosh invented a new method of waterproofing cotton, and the company’s commitment to reliable and thoughtful outerwear was born. Its Dalton peacoat is warm and insulating, spun from wool and cashmere. This peacoat foregoes formal structured shoulders for softer, forgiving ones that elevate it to an elegant place. You may not be scaling a mast in this one, but it will look damn smart on your commute.

Date of Brand Origin: 1824.
Material: Wool and cashmere.
Colors Available: 5.

Arguably an icon even before its big debut in a 007 joint. In fact, Billy Reid’s Bond peacoat was named after the brand’s Bond Street flagship in New York when it was just a beautifully designed piece of outerwear. Then Daniel Craig came along. The actor, already a fan of Billy Reid’s rugged-but-refined clothing, suggested the peacoat first for the opening sequence of Casino Royale and famously for Skyfall, where it practically has a starring role. Given James Bond’s naval background, it was a logical choice. Fun tidbit: Costume designer Jany Temime ordered 15 of them in medium size and five in large. For the hero shots, aiming for a trimmer look, Craig wore the mediums and for the scenes in which he’s kicking someone’s ass and requires freedom of movement, he wore a large. Whatever size your lifestyle warrants, you’ll find Billy Reid’s signature heirloom ribbon stripe embossed on luxe calfskin leather under the collar, handwarmer chest pockets, and genuine horn button.

Date of Brand Origin: 1998.
Material: Melton wool.
Colors Available: 2.

In another Bond-adjacent sphere, Belstaff began in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire (doesn’t get much more British than that name) with a mission to create waterproof jackets for motorcyclists. One of the founders, Eli Belovitch, mashed up his last name with Staffordshire, and Belstaff was born. The brand’s jackets, specifically its Trialmaster style, became popular with motorcyclists, aviators, and adventure seekers at large. It also got the leading man bump with the likes of Steve McQueen, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Johnny Depp all wearing Belstaff jackets. There’s no argument Belstaff is synonymous with daring dudes, and that spirit comes through in its shearling-trimmed peacoat. All the classic attributes are present and accounted for, but they’ve upped the ante with a detachable shearling collar and lightly padded lining that will really keep the heat in.

Date of Brand Origin: 1924.
Material: Wool, polyamide, and shearling.
Colors Available: 1.

These Brits sure are prolific when it comes to functional and fashionable outerwear. You’re probably familiar with Thomas Burberry’s innovation of gabardine, a breathable waterproof fabric that begat the brand’s renowned trench coat. Though the origins come from land (rain-soaked battle trenches) rather than sea, the trench shares the peacoat’s military adoption and subsequent popularity. Burberry simply makes a damn good coat. The latest iteration departs ever so slightly from the paradigm with flap pockets, but you’re essentially getting a sharp, timeless classic here.

Date of Brand Origin: 1914-18.
Material: Wool, polyamide, and cashmere.
Colors available: 1.

Now we pivot to a brand starting on this side of the pond—real American Dream stuff. In 1913, Irving and Jack Schott, sons of a Russian immigrant, started making raincoats in a basem*nt on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. By the mid-twenties, the bros turned their attention to the motorcycle and designed the first leather motorcycle jacket—the Perfecto. Yet another round of brooding testosterone-filled endorsem*nts, this time from enfants terribles like Marlon Brando, James Dean, and the Ramones, gave shape to the icon. Meanwhile, Schott NYC widened its outerwear offering from duffle coats to flight jackets, and, of course, a signature peacoat, all of which carry the “Made in America” stamp, as well as a bit of bad-boy persona. The brand’s Melton wool peacoat has all those things and sports one of the style’s emblems: anchor motifs on every big button.

Date of Brand Origin: 1913.
Material: Wool and nylon.
Colors Available: 1.

Todd Snyder is something of an alchemist, combining refined tailoring gestures with classic sportswear to create something greater than its parts. He does it with knitwear, he does it with suiting, and he definitely does it with outerwear. Here, he’s taken the peacoat (he opts for the synonymous term “reefer jacket,” referring to the British sailors who worked midships wearing the style) and rendered it in a brown glen plaid Italian wool. Softly tailored, it has the confident drape of a tweed blazer with that characteristic enveloping collar. Snyder says it has “sartorial woodsman” vibes, and we agree that’s pretty spot on. If the plaid is feeling slightly too bugles and beagles, he’s got some nice navy and gray cashmere blend options, too.

Date of Brand Origin: 2011.
Material: Wool and nylon.
Colors Available: 4.

There’s always much much more than meets the eye with Matthieu Blazy at Bottega Veneta—and a lot actually meets the eye. With coats alone, he shifts shapes and materials in ways that are both wearable and inspired. Just looking at his recent fall collection, there’s outsize boucle, double lapels, ostrich and croc-effect leather, and ribbed knit topcoats. One of his silhouettes that immediately became an outerwear signature is a rounded cocoon-like backside sculpted from wool with curved seams, giving the wearer a shadow of a sort of chic armadillo. The construction is on full display here in Bottega Veneta’s oversize grain de poudre peacoat. While it falls firmly on the side of “statement jacket” rather than a piece to protect you from winter’s unpredictable weather patterns, it’s a worthwhile investment for its place in fashion history.

Date of Brand Origin: 1966.
Material: Grain de poudre.
Colors Available: 1.

When you’re looking for some insulation that doesn’t mess around, Herno’s a good, sleek place to land. Picture it: 1948. Post-war. Lake Maggiore in northern Italy. Humidity, rain, and fog compelled a young Giuseppe Marenzi and his wife Alessandra Diana to create a high-performance raincoat treated with the castor oil from planes abandoned by the war. Herno, named for the nearby Erno river, quickly expanded in Japan and continued innovating with a major production overhaul in the early 2000s. These days, it’s the go-to for warm, streamlined outerwear that offers discreet insulation. Case in point: This cashmere blend peacoat with subtle padding and a removable bib to break out when the Alpine winds start to blow.

Date of Brand Origin: 1948.
Material: Wool, cashmere, and polyester.
Colors Available: 1.

Umit Benan is quietly producing some of the most exceptional clothing on the planet. With his B+ line, the designer approaches Italian sartorial tradition with his own offbeat flair. Whiffs of the ’80s run through the tightly edited timeless collection. The scale is small and special. He’s only using the best materials; every piece has a certain fluidity to it. His peacoat is gently oversized, cut from a wildly soft wool and cashmere blend with wide notch lapels and a soothing heathered mushroom hue. Clocking in at over $5,000, it’s an investment, but know that the quality is 100 percent there.

Date of Brand Origin: 2009.
Material: Wool and cashmere.
Colors Available: 1.

Somehow, everything designers Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran produce simultaneously looks familiar and new. Maybe it’s their just left-of-center sensibility or laissez-faire Parisian style that makes the clothes so appealing. Maybe it’s their languid shapes with expertly deployed structure that’s only where it’s needed most. Or maybe it’s the mostly neutral palette that improbably possesses depth. Whatever it is, they’ve applied it to a peacoat, rendering it in a midnight green with wide shoulders and a roomy fit. The best way to study it and decipher their tricks? Cop it for the winter.

Date of Brand Origin: 1991.
Material: Melton wool.
Colors Available: 2.