Rare variation of the legendary 1980's Issey Sport bomber designed by Tsumori Chisato. Details include padded shoulders and the benefit of usable vertical hand pockets over the other version, as well as the traditional wind flap and an amazing silhouette.

Made in Japan
8/10 condition, some fading from wear as pictured

Shoulders: Dropped, ~56cm
Pit to Pit: 61cm
Front Length: 52cm
Back Length from bottom collar: 61.5cm
Sleeve Length: Raglan, 52cm

Kyle's Postlude

There is quizzically so much and, at the same time, so little to be said about the (and when I say “the” I mean “THE”) I.S. Chisato Tsumori Design bomber. Granted “the” bomber isn’t a single bomber as there exist a few material variants but the point is that of all these nylon crinkle or leather sleeve or shoulder panel what-have-you bombers in the Issey Sports family, they can all be encapsulated by the big fat I and the big fat S on the back. Sometimes printed, other times popping out and plush, the I.S. (which is frequently and casually used as a synecdoche for the entire jacket) provides little explanation for the masses clamoring to click “comment” whenever the bomber is posted on a certain community marketplace for men’s clothing. Why do people care about this jacket so much? Why is it so covetable that the buyer is willing to pay the premium the seller charges? This jacket has nothing to say other than “please read care labels,” and everyone has too much to say about Ian Connor this or Davil that or “Remember when Travis Ghan’s sold for 400? Sigh.” Maybe the secret is in the care tags as the jacket suggests. Taking a look at them now…alas, they’re in Japanese. But what if that’s it? Perhaps the clamor surrounding the I.S. bomber is just another tireless variation of the western obsession with the “other,” specifically cultural commodification of the Far East. Clearly we have here a solid piece of clothing: accommodating in the body and sleeves, sleek outer fabric, billowing silhouette—nothing to raise an eyebrow at. A rather simple bomber jacket which can honestly be summed up in a few words. Ah, but look at this! It’s from Issey Miyake’s Issey Sports-turned-I.S. Chisato Tsumori Design line! Whoa…first off we have a relatively underappreciated designer in the modern fashion landscape and then suddenly out of the blue, a jacket from one of his sub-lines (headed under a designer whose name has never graced your lips before you saw this jacket, admit it) has a going rate of a grand, two grand, extravagance and luxury! Wow, never heard of Chisato Tsumori but that sort of Japanese obscurity will relay my taste, my ability to appreciate this esoteric halcyon of fashion design and history, to my peers and subordinates. Fine, I’ll take it easy. What I think my commentary is reflective of is the fact that the inexplicable commotion around the I.S. bomber makes it difficult to appreciate as a garment in its own right. The extoling of the legendary bomber, the pedestal placing, all of it fogs up an individual’s ability to see the jacket for what it is. You can’t help but hear what other people have to say about it, before you even get a chance to see it for yourself. And to add to the mystique, you’ll most likely never get to handle one unless you purchase it, which isn’t a reason in itself to buy it, but leads to the false equivalence of “the holy bomber.” Maybe it comes as an inevitable part of the miniature economy of the secondhand marketplace. And interestingly, in a sense, does the excitement and lust generated by the I.S. bomber create a “fashion?” A separate fashion from the fashion that is designing and producing clothes, or the fashion that is styling and displaying clothes. A different sort of fashion is produced through the internalization and processing of clothes. That’s where the sense of completeness comes about. A meal isn’t a meal just because someone cooks and prepares it. It becomes a meal when it’s eaten. Everyone has a role in highlighting the different angles. Hopefully I’ve done an alright job of highlighting my angle on this garment.