Okay, so this is all a bit what the fuck? Where do you draw the line with utilitarian experimentation?  Could it be when the bottom half of your jacket is connected to the top half by a pair of braces?

Technical Japanese label Meanwhile has form when it comes to getting their freak on. Wavy button stands, shirts that look like pyjama tops, pop-button-sleeves last worn by Kurtis Blow; the brand’s appetite for bending things wrongways is ceaseless. But of course, it’s only wrongways if you’re not on board with looking like a galactic fell walker. If you are, Meanwhile’s your brand.

This specimen is apparently all about versatility. If you want to wear the vest bit on it’s own you can. Want the vest tucked inside the jacket, or hanging outside, you can. And if you want to wear the little cropped jacket on its own you can do that too – although you may experience anything from the odd confused glance to a direct punch in the eyes.

It’s made of a fabric called, “Bedford Cross”; traditionally used for riding and military clothes. According to the brand, the fabric has a bit of stretch in it. A cropped, stretchy jacket? Quick boot up the Paypal.

It’s entirely possible that this level of weird is (in some way) highly practical while participating in the sports of fishing, walking up mountains or hilariously shotgunning harmless mammals. I have no idea. My medium is the streets. And for me this particular example of Meanwhile’s functional dramatics isn’t going to fly. I tend to prefer it when my jackets come in one less piece than two.