Today’s review features the Musterbrand x Star Wars Jyn jacket. Released in October 2016, the jacket is inspired by Jyn Erso’s costume as seen in Rogue One. I have been a huge fan of Musterbrand’s design style ever since their first Star Wars collection launched back in late 2015, so I was very excited to see their Rogue One designs. As expected, several companies released a Jyn Erso inspired jacket, each taking a different design approach – but it was no surprise to see Musterbrand rise above the rest with a perfect blend of costume inspiration and real world fashion style.
Original replica of Jyn Erso’s jacket in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The dark grey shell is made of durable cotton poplin fabric. The inner lining is printed with a huge Rebellion logo. The most eye-catching elements are the rippled tape on the left sleeve and the Rogue One badge on the right sleeve. Each jacket comes with a serialised production-number printed on a metal plate.
The Jyn jacket is available in sizes XS to XL, and is priced at €189.00 each direct from Musterbrand, or US$189.99 from Musterbrand US on Amazon. Musterbrand is based in Germany but they can ship internationally, which is great! The Jyn jacket was also stocked at ThinkGeek, but it is currently out stock (I’m not sure if they plan to restock).
- Women’s Jyn jacket – €189.00 each – sizes XS to XL (Musterbrand direct)
- Women’s Jyn jacket – US$189.99 each – sizes XS to XL (Musterbrand US on Amazon)
The jacket came packaged inside a clear plastic bag, which features the Musterbrand logo. Inside, the jacket came neatly folded, with white tissue paper separating the folded layers to help keep them protected during shipping. The front zipper tag was also covered in white tissue paper. Thoughtful packaging like this shows respect for the customer, and helps the garment arrive in pristine condition (which is especially important for items shipped internationally, with the longer transit time).
The jacket is made from a cotton poplin fabric, with asymmetrical front zip, left sleeve ribbed detail, right sleeve patch, and printed lining fabric. The jacket is 100% cotton, with a lovely weight to it – sturdy but not stiff, comfortable while still retaining structure. My jacket is size S – it measures approximately 47cm across the chest (underarm to underarm), 47cm across the lower hem, and 58cm from back neckline to back hem.
The colour is really gorgeous in person – it is half way between grey and green. Not too green as to be hard to coordinate with outfits, but not too grey as to risk being dull. It references the movie costume colour well, but still feels like a colour you’d find in a fashion store (rather than army surplus). The top stitching is all done in colour matched thread, so it does not distract or draw attention.
The front of the jacket opens with an asymmetrical front zipper. The right side of the jacket front overlaps onto the left side – this is an interesting design choice, as Jyn’s movie costume jacket has a central zip, it is not asymmetrical. This is perhaps the biggest deviation away from the original costume design. The collar is also asymmetrical, with a larger peak on the right. I have a soft spot for asmmetrical jackets, I think they look fabulous – this jacket looks great zipped all the way up, half way, or worn open.
The zip has dark silver-toned metal teeth, matching dark silver-toned metal zipper pull, while the zipper fabric matches the brown colour of the jacket lining. The zip is covered by a top flap, which secures closed with velcro tabs – 1 at the top of the zip, 1 at the lower end of the zip, and 1 on the jacket waistband. The coarse ‘hook’ tape is used for the outward facing panels, while the soft ‘loop’ tape is used for the inward facing panels – so the coarse panels never face towards your skin.
When worn closed, the zipper is mostly hidden, except for a small segment of the bottom of the zip which is left visible. The zip itself has an additional fabric zipper pull, sewn from the same fabric as the jacket outer.
The jacket features 2 front pockets, which are inserted into the front vertical seams. The top edges are top stitched, and the pockets are lined with brown cotton fabric. The pockets measure approximately 14cm across, they can easily fit a standard size smart phone. Because of the asymmetrical front zip, the pockets overlap each other a little, but still sit nice and flat so they don’t add bulk to the front of the jacket. Jyn’s real movie costume has flap pockets on the upper chest – not as practical for real world women’s wear, and you can’t put your hands in them on cold days!
The left sleeve features a distinctive ‘rippled’ detail – it runs the full length of the sleeve, from shoulder seam to wrist cuff. The detail is created with a brown ribbon tape, sewn down at intervals with a raised loop in between each stitch line. The sleeve ribbon tape colour matches the interior lining fabric colour, which is a nice touch. The ribbon tape has a lovely soft feel, it isn’t stiff or scratchy. The ribbon tape has been a little pushed down due to packaging/shipping, so it doesn’t seem to sit as perfectly even as seen in the promotional photos – but I like the effect.
The real Jyn Erso movie costume has a more yellow coloured sleeve detail, printed in a ‘Bloodstripe’ pattern (similar to the design on Han Solo’s pants) on both left and right sleeves. The rippled tape effect of this version is a neat design choice, and it also reminds me of another famous Star Wars rebel – Luke Skywalker, with the sleeve detail of his yellow ANH ceremony jacket and his orange ESB Hoth jacket.
I really like the way Musterbrand has interpreted this sleeve detail – the brown colour references the additional brown vest Jyn wears at times, so the jacket captures the feel of her outfit, without being a literal costume copy. Using a sewn fabric detail, rather than a printed design gives the jacket a designer feel, and once again distinguishes this jacket as a real world fashion item instead of a costume piece.
The upper right sleeve features a Rogue One themed patch, which has both printed and embroidered details. This is the only exterior detail that gives away the Star Wars connection – though it is very subtle for any one who doesn’t recognise the Rebel Alliance ‘starbird’ symbol. The weathered printing on the patch is a perfect match for the military style of the film and costume design. This patch matches on the one used on the Musterbrand Rogue One scarf, which is still available (and the perfect accessory for this jacket).
The ends of the sleeves are adjustable – they have a small slit up the side seam, and velcro tabs on the wrist cuff. This allows you to loosen the sleeves to roll them up, or simply adjust the fit to your liking. The additional tabs give the jacket another touch of military style, and are in keeping with the Star Wars design aesthetic of keeping garment closures as hidden as possible.
The sleeves are sewn from 2 panels (top and bottom), so there are 2 seams where they join, running the length of the sleeve. This is a classic jacket patterning technique, which helps add a more natural curved shape to the sleeve. The sleeve lining is also sewn from 2 panels, matching the outer shape nicely.
Inside, there are 2 tags attached at the collar. The cardboard tag features the Star Wars and Musterbrand logos, noting this is a licensed item – this was attached by a small cord to the inner jacket hook loop, not to the jacket itself. The sewn garment hook is a nice touch, so you can hang your jacket on a hook without putting stress on the lining fabric.
The inner garment tag at the collar notes the size, country of manufacture (Vietnam), and customer service contact email (an interesting and useful inclusion). This tag is attached right on the neckline, but it can be removed – it has a small ‘scissor’ icon, to indicate you can cut it off, or you can unpick the small line of stitching if you prefer.
Opening the front zipper reveals one of my favourite details – the inner lining. The brown lining fabric features a large grey print of the Rebel Alliance ‘starbird’ symbol, with 6 X-Wings and a U-Wing flying above the design. As with the sleeve detail, the brown colour adds another touch of costume design inspiration, without being too literal. I find brown can be hard to coordinate outfits with (it just isn’t my colour), so I like that it is kept to the inside, and as an accent colour on the outside, rather than using it in large exterior panels to represent Jyn’s vest, for example.
The lining print design is not unique to this jacket – for example, it was also used on t-shirts from Disney Store and Box Lunch. It was one of my absolute favourite Rogue One themed prints, I love the thin refined lines and classic silhouettes. It goes so well with the overall vibe of this jacket – stylish Rebel.
As a costume inspired garment, the exterior features very little Star Wars branding, so I love to see the bolder design still included in a place that doesn’t distract from the overall appearance when worn. I do love big and bold Star Wars fashion, but it’s not for everyone – having the print on the lining rather than on the outside keeps it balanced. As the description from ThinkGeek said –
This jacket doesn’t shout Star Wars. It looks like a fashionable asymmetric dark grey poplin jacket. But you (and other fans you may encounter in your travels) know the truth: under that coat hides the soul of Rebel.
The inner left side of the jacket features a black fabric tag with the Star Wars logo embroidered in yellow thread. Being a licensed item, the Star Wars logo appears several times inside the jacket, but not on the exterior – great news for fans who prefer a more subtle approach to Star Wars fashion. The patch measures approximately 8cm by 5cm, and is sewn to the lining fabric with black thread.
Underneath the patch is a metal tag, sewn to the lining with colour matched brown thread. This metal tag features a printed Musterbrand logo, and a serialised production number. Each jacket has a unique number – mine is #0181. Musterbrand is a rare example of a Star Wars apparel company using edition numbering on the garments themselves – I absolutely love this detail. It makes the jacket so special, and it is a nice reminder of the care and detail that has gone into designing this jacket, compared to the usual mass produced tie-in apparel.
The full Musterbrand garment tag is sewn into the lower left inner side seam. The tag has several ‘pages’, with information like the Star Wars and Musterbrand logos, fabric composition and care instructions. This is useful if you wish to completely remove the garment tag at the neckline, so you don’t lose the care instructions. This jacket can be machine washed, and ironed with care (avoiding the printed details).
The back of the jacket is constructed from several panels – upper back/shoulders, central back, left side, right side, and lower hem band. Using panels helps to tailor the jacket for a better fit, and provides structure.
As expected, the back of the jacket does not feature any Star Wars branding or costume elements. This jacket is designed to be an inspired piece that doesn’t shout ‘Star Wars!’, so any added detail like a printed Rebel Alliance symbol here would detract from the design concept. Of course if that’s your thing, you can always add extra details like pins or patches.
The upper back panel features the classic Musterbrand logo stud. The size and placement is subtle, so it does not detract from the overall design – depending on your hair length, it may be completely hidden when worn. The stud measures approximately 1.9cm across – large enough to see the logo, but still small enough to remain discrete.
I am just completely in love with this jacket. I know some fans want a jacket with screen accurate details – but that is a costume, not fashion. This version from Musterbrand is the best fashion version of Jyn’s jacket out there – just the right amount of rugged military style, but still blended with real world style and wearability. Normally I’m not drawn to military style apparel (I’ll always choose high heels over combat boots), but that is one of the reasons I love this jacket – it is so versatile, everyone can rock it. Musterbrand took Jyn’s rugged outfit and created a jacket that looks great with a broad range of personal styles. I can’t wait to see what Musterbrand will release next!
Disclaimer: this item was supplied by Musterbrand for review purposes. The Kessel Runway stands by the position that this, and all of our reviews, are an honest analysis and opinion regardless of whether the merchandise was purchased or supplied by a manufacturer/retailer.
