Leica and Shackleton Collab for Photographer’s Field Jacket
As Leica celebrates the 100th anniversary of the legendary Leica I 35mm camera, the company has been busy doing many collaborations. The latest is not for teddy bears or jewelry, but instead for a very nice, albeit pricey, Shackleton field jacket.
Developed in collaboration with Leica Camera and photographer Levison Wood, the Shackleton Frank Hurley Field Jacket is a waterproof hardshell field jacket designed for diverse use cases. As a field jacket, it has a utility aesthetic and is designed to withstand adverse conditions.
Built with photographers in mind, the Frank Hurley Field Jacket has a few distinct features. Besides affording a wide range of motion, it also includes an insulated battery pocket to keep batteries warm and effective, large cargo pockets with double folds for added security and protection, and a branded lens cloth attached to a retracting lanyard that has its own dedicated compartment.
The jacket includes extensive waterproofing, including all seams, and features Aquaguard zippers to keep pockets dry. A pack-away hood extends far enough out to keep the wearer’s head dry and a camera dry when held up to the eye. The jacket includes reinforced abrasion-proof panels at the elbows, seat, and shoulders to accommodate backpacks and harnesses.
The Frank Hurley Field Jacket is Leica Camera and Shackleton’s second collaboration. The companies worked together in 2019 for the Frank Hurley Photographer’s Parka, a robust down jacket designed for extreme winter conditions.
Both jackets’ namesake, Frank Hurley, knew much about extreme conditions. The Australian adventurer and photographer (1885-1962) documented many remarkable events, including Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ‘Endurance’ expedition to Antarctica. Launched in 1912, the expedition turned disastrous when the ship sank in November 1915, although all crew members, including Hurley, survived and were rescued months later in 1916.
A dedicated photographer, Hurley took an extremely dangerous dip in the freezing Antarctic waters to rescue his pictures before the damaged Endurance ship dipped beneath the surface. Shackleton said the rescued plates were too heavy to put onto their lifeboat, so Hurley filtered through his 600 plates, smashing over 400 into oblivion. Fortunately, he was able to salvage about 150 of them.
Besides this harrowing adventure, Hurley was well known for his pioneering use of color photography techniques, World War One photography, which included novel composite images (Hurley argued that the scale of the war could not be captured in a single frame), and World War Two documentary work. He was also an accomplished filmmaker.
Pricing and Availability
As for the Shackleton x Leica Frank Hurley Field Jacket that honors the late adventure photographer, it is available to purchase now for $950 directly from Shackleton. It comes in small, medium, large, and extra-large sizes and is only available in black. The new field jacket is not much more expensive than the photographer’s jacket that Leica made alongside Aether Apparel last October. That $795 jacket sold out hours after its debut.
Image credits: Leica x Shackleton
