EQUINOX comes in two materials, and it’s the question we get asked most: which one should I actually buy?

There’s no universal answer, but there is a right answer for you, and it has less to do with which looks better in photographs than with how you’ll actually wear it.

What each one is good at

Leather is the more forgiving of the two. It sheds light rain, it blocks wind well, and it improves with age rather than degrading — the creases it develops map to how you move, which is why a five-year-old leather jacket looks better than a new one. It’s the choice if you want a piece that gets more yours over time.

Tweed print is the more breathable, and the more forgiving in heat. It reads as more considered and less casual, holds structure through a cut rather than through weight, and doesn’t demand the same care routine. It’s the choice if you’re dressing up more often than down, or if humidity is a bigger factor in your life than rain.

Choose by how you’ll wear it

Some honest questions that settle it faster than any amount of browsing:

• Is this mostly an evening piece or a daily piece? Daily wear in variable weather favours leather. Evenings and occasions favour tweed.
• How much of your year is humid? If most of it, tweed will be more comfortable more often.
• Do you want it to change, or stay the same? Leather develops a patina. Tweed holds its appearance. Neither is better — but people have strong preferences once they think about it.
• Will you actually maintain it? Leather rewards a small amount of care. If you know you won’t do it, tweed is the more realistic purchase.

The right piece isn’t the one you like most in the photograph. It’s the one you’ll reach for on a Tuesday.

Caring for leather

Leather asks for very little, but it does ask.

• Let it dry naturally. If it gets wet, hang it at room temperature away from radiators and direct heat. Forced heat is what cracks leather — not water.
• Condition occasionally, not constantly. Once or twice a year is plenty for most wear. Over-conditioning softens structure and leaves the finish tacky.
• Hang it on something with shoulders. Wire hangers put all the weight on two points and deform the shoulder line permanently.
• Don’t store it in plastic. Leather needs air. A garment bag in breathable cotton is fine; a dry-cleaning bag is not.

Caring for tweed

• Brush, don’t wash. Most of what tweed picks up is surface dust, and a soft clothes brush removes it. Washing is a last resort, not a routine.
• Air it between wears. A night on a hanger in open air does more than most people expect and delays cleaning considerably.
• Steam out creases rather than pressing them. A direct hot iron flattens texture, and texture is the entire point.
• Spot-treat quickly. Blot, don’t rub. Rubbing works a stain into the weave rather than off it.

The longevity question

Both materials will outlast a season comfortably. What determines whether they outlast three years is almost entirely how they’re stored between wears, not how they’re worn.

The garments that fail early are rarely worn out. They’re crushed in an overfull wardrobe, folded along the same line for months, or dried on a radiator once. Five minutes of attention after wearing is worth more than any amount of care product.

Still undecided?

Buy the one you can picture wearing this week — not the one you can picture wearing at an event you don’t have in the diary yet. The piece you reach for is always worth more than the piece you admire.

EQUINOX is available in leather and tweed print, in male, female and unisex cuts. Browse the collection — 30-day returns, unworn with tags attached, so you can decide with it on rather than on screen.