 Fashion & Style: Italian luxury goods house Salvatore Ferragamo has come out with the ne plus ultra of trench coats: a full-length, double-breasted model made entirely of the worlds finest black crocodile skin, priced at $250,000. The coat features epaulettes, D-rings, forearm straps and a silk lining. Mr. Ferragamo himself, the company's namesake and founder, died in 1960, but we feel he would have approved of this innovative use of crocodile. A pioneer in the unconventional use of luxurious materials, Ferragamo devoted meticulous study to crocodile and other exotic skins and ways to adapt them to his designs.
The trench coat was first developed as a lighter alternative to the heavy wool greatcoats worn by British and French soldiers during the First World War. Thomas Burberry, founder of another storied firm, submitted a design for an army officer's raincoat to the British War Office in 1901, which later became known as the trench coat. The coat had a certain cachet because only officers were allowed to wear them. Burberry became world famous for his invention of course, but we doubt he ever envisioned a version as over-the-top as this.
For LxM
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