The US simply imitated the wool overcoats of dominant European armies. This resulted in uniforms ill-suited for the wet, muddy conditions of trench warfare, demonstrating the danger of blind imitation without considering the specific use case.
In early WWII, different US Army battalions created their own custom jackets, leading to a logistical nightmare of incompatible, limited-edition gear. This illustrates how decentralized innovation without a unifying strategy results in inefficiency and chaos.
Instead of copying other armies, Harvard professor Georges Doriot used laboratories, physiological data, and a sensor-equipped copper dummy to objectively test what keeps a soldier warm and dry. This data-driven R&D approach led to a revolutionary design.
The US military's intensive research for a single "perfect jacket" concluded that no such thing exists. The real breakthrough was a modular system of layers—a liner, a shell, and a parka—that could be adapted to any environment, revolutionizing apparel design.
Quartermaster General Littlejohn actively rejected the scientifically superior M43 jacket, favoring his own traditional, aesthetically-driven design. His personal bias and ego overrode data, causing a supply failure that led to thousands of soldiers freezing in Europe.
The need to liquidate millions of overproduced M43 jackets after WWII created the modern surplus industry. These stores made scientifically tested, high-performance clothing available to everyone, effectively becoming the "Walmart before Walmart" for functional apparel.
Protesters and returning veterans adopted the military-issue field jacket during the Vietnam War. By adorning it with peace signs and patches, they co-opted a symbol of the military establishment and transformed it into a powerful icon of the anti-war movement.
The brand's original model relied on a dwindling supply of global military surplus. As drafts and wars ended, this supply chain evaporated, forcing a pivot from curating used goods to manufacturing new clothing, which ultimately led to its acquisition by Gap.