Willis & Geiger Outfitters was founded in 1932.  Their most famous item was the “Bush Jacket” they made for  Abercrombie & Fitch.  When I joined Chipp in 1960 Mr. Willis had gone to his reward many years before. Howard Geiger was still runing the company.  The company was sold to Lands End in 1980 and was closed by Lands End 1999.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         In the summer of 2008 a customer asked me to suggest a “traveling” jacket for him.  He had purchased a company in California and wanted something with lots of pockets for the frequent flights he would now be taking.  He wanted comfort and did not want the formality of a classically constructed sports jacket.  I suggested we make a Bush Jacket out of silk - the whole nine yards with four bellows pockets, unconstructed, and with a belt. The jacket was hanging in our showroom. Customers saw it.  We have now made our version of The Willis & Geiger Bush Jackets for men and women using Shetland, loden, Harris Tweed, and John Hardy’s Thorn Proof. There are variations- some have eppaulettes, some have bellows pockets, some do not have bellows pockets.  What I will not do is make one out of poplin.  Tomorrow I will relate how we have come to add another Willis & Geiger classic- the field shirt - to our repertoire.

A few moons ago I wrote about the bush jackets we were making using cloth other than poplin.  (The classic bush jacket was made by Willis & Geiger using a brushed cotton which they called safari cloth.)  The silk variation we made came about because a customer who had purchased a West Coast  company wanted a comfortable  jacket with lots of pockets for his flights to and from Southern California and for the casual nature of his West Coast meetings.  Customers who saw the silk bush coat in the shop suggested other variations- Shetland, Harris, cashmere and loden.

A customer in Florida asked us to make him a Norfolk jacket ( Straps from the back waist over the shoulders to the front waist- belt- patch pockets)  out of tropical worsted. Through the years we have made Norfolk jackets using Shetland, Harris, and Donegal. We naver made one out of tropical worsted. The tropical Norfolk, upon completion, was truely handsome.

We enjoy being able to be part of our customers ideas.