As a painter, Richard Cook is interested in those things that can’t be put into words: the feelings, sensations, impressions and impulses that visit us all but are near impossible to communicate. Look at his gestural paintings of ephemeral, dreamlike landscapes, and I have a feeling you’ll understand what I mean.

There is perhaps no higher authority on the subject of classic menswear than Sean Crowley, the owner of Brooklyn menswear mecca Crowley Vintage. After establishing himself as a designer at Ralph Lauren, Crowley went on to shape his store with an expert's eye for finding the best pieces and meticulous curation that has created a vintage shopping experience unlike any other. 

After a previous collaboration on a neckwear capsule, Crowley has returned to design with us a new collection of three double-breasted smoking jackets. Each piece explores in different variations Crowley's vast knowledge of the smoking jacket's design traditions while adding unique details and twists that make them entirely distinct. 

To mark the launch of our collaboration, we took Sean Crowley to New York's iconic National Arts Club and asked him a few questions about his new smoking jackets. 

What is the appeal of smoking jackets for you? 

I love that evening lounge pieces like smoking jackets are elegant and stately, but also at the same time a little gaudy—I guess “louche” is the best word. 

What was your inspiration for each of the three jackets? 

I really wanted a choice range of fabrics that ran from ultra-traditional (like the green velvet) to something more modern and minimal (the black corduroy) and it felt wrong not to have a tartan, but I didn’t want something that read “Christmas” so I chose the more muted tonal colours of the MacCallum tartan. 

What place do you see in a modern man’s wardrobe for garments like these? 

A smoking jacket is already a very Victorian sort of item, which is what I love about it, but I wanted to try to dial it back ever so slightly so that it didn’t cross over into costume territory. At the end of the day, it’s definitely a statement piece, but men need some of that these days.

After decades of mealy-mouthed men’s evening wear, I think men really crave distinctive and elegant options rather than just a monotonous skinny black tux. Men want to have fun with these things and aren’t afraid to step out and not look like everyone else.