Uniqlo Does a Solid Barbour Impression for a Third of the Price

To clarify up front, Uniqlo doesn’t just make affordable dupes.

The Japanese retail behemoth has an impressive list of highly functional proprietary materials it deploys in designs inspired by tried-and-true classics.

Case in point: its ultra-light Pufftech insulation is an ideal fit for a British-style barn coat.

Uniqlo

Calling Uniqlo’s new jacket a Barbour knock-off would be missing the point. This mid-weight coat from Uniqlo’s long-running JW Anderson collection offers a different set of benefits at a significantly lower price.

As the name implies, the Pufftech Utility Jacket is insulated with Uniqlo’s in-house synthetic stuffing comprised of 0.016mm-thick hollow polyester fibers that trap air to lock in body heat.

This puts it in a completely different category than the Barbour Ashby and Bedale jackets it resembles. It does some things better while sacrificing other benefits.

Uniqlo

Depending on your priorities, Uniqlo’s barn coat could be an objectively better jacket that happens to retail for a third of the price. So, let’s dive a little deeper and see if the Pufftech Utility Jacket is the fall outerwear piece that Barbour fans on a budget have been missing.

Hitting your marks

Visually speaking, Uniqlo and JW Anderson hit pretty close to the mark here. The Pufftech Utility Jacket has most of the details that make Barbour’s jackets immediately recognizable, without overstepping any legal boundaries.

Uniqlo

There’s a corduroy-lined collar, which is brown on the khaki model and matches the body of the jacket on the navy and olive green versions. The cuffs are corduroy-lined as well, but unlike most Barbour jackets, they are vented with snaps.

The pockets are very close, with two vented hand pockets that are vertical instead of tilted, and two bellows pockets with snap flaps. The big difference is that the flaps have a single concealed snap instead of two exposed snaps.

While there is a storm flap over the zipper front, only the top snap is exposed, unlike the full set on the Bedale and Ashby.

Uniqlo

The mostly concealed snaps create a more refined appearance, closer to a topcoat or car coat than the utilitarian vibe of Barbour’s designs.

The give and the take

Uniqlo offers two significant trade-offs in functionality compared to British waxed canvas options. The first is sacrificing durability for a lighter weight.

Despite being insulated, the 78-percent cotton, 22-percent nylon blend shell and the nearly microscopic width of the hollow filling weigh substantially less than heavy cotton canvas imbued with paraffin wax or Sylkoil.

Uniqlo

That also makes the Pufftech Utility Jacket the warmer option because Barbour insists on selling attachable insulated layers separately.

The weather resistance breaks even thanks to a DWR coating and nylon blend shell. Waxed canvas jackets can be rewaxed, but buying and applying a DWR spray is much easier and cheaper (PFAS issues aside).

As is often the case, the most significant trade-off is affordability for quality. Even though Uniqlo offers exceptional quality for its prices, a $130 cotton-nylon jacket is a big drop off from an Ashby or Bedale.

Factors like stitching and finishing vary in Uniqlo garments, most often meeting a high standard, but the material quality alone of features like solid brass hardware and pure cotton canvas put Barbour in a different league.

Uniqlo

Unsurprisingly, price is the deciding factor here. If you can afford a Barbour, I recommend it over the Pufftech Utility Jacket because it will likely last at least three times as long.

If you can’t or aren’t willing to pay the admittedly overinflated price for Britain’s most famous outerwear brand, Uniqlo and JW Anderson once again offer the best bang-for-your-buck alternative.

Availability and price

The JW Anderson for Uniqlo Pufftech Utility Jacket is available now for $130.

It comes in khaki, olive green and navy blue. The JW Anderson collection has a history of selling out quickly, so I would move fast on this one if you like it.

Uniqlo

Uniqlo x JW Anderson Pufftech Utility Jacket

• $100 at Uniqlo
  $130 (23% off)

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