This Japanese Winter Jacket Specialist Makes the Perfect Spring Puffer

Let’s be honest here: historically speaking, March isn’t the best time to buy a new winter jacket. But we find ourselves in utterly ahistorical times, gentlemen—in our neck of the woods, spring doesn’t exactly seem on the horizon, and not all jackets need to withstand sub-zero temperatures anyway. Oh, and speaking of “not all jackets”: scant few of them are as good as Nanga’s, the criminally slept-on Japanese puffer specialist that’s increasingly easy to buy stateside.

Nanga borrows its name from Nanga Parbat, the ninth-tallest mountain in the world, an especially foreboding presence even relative to its perilous peers. Ever since 1941, Nanga, the brand, has specialized in precisely the type of gear you’d need to scale its peak, whether you’re a layman outdoorsman or a bona fide Edmund Hillary acolyte.

For decades, though, Nanga wasn’t a name that got much love outside of Japan. I first clocked the brand at a market presentation a couple of years ago, where it had one of the most compelling booths of the week. Not too long afterwards, Nanga began collaborating with a who’s who of the indie-menswear world, yielding some of the best-looking cold-weather gear I’d seen in a while. Those collaborations were limited by nature, which meant that the only real issue, as you might suspect, was availability.

Well, we’re not really dealing with that issue anymore. In fact, there are two killer jackets from the cult-ish label available right now at Madewell. Even better? Both are under $450. Sure, they’re technically down-filled, but Nanga only traffics in down of the loftiest, lightest variety, which makes each primed for shoulder-season wear long after the early daffodils have bloomed.

The Aurora Tex Stand Collar Down Jacket is the rare unpaneled, low-profile puffer, made with a featherweight waterproof membrane and duck down—unassuming, yet teched-out to the gills. The Aurora Tex Down Jacket is a bit heavier than its stand-collar alternative, but isn’t stifling in the slightest—a deep-winter weapon that won’t feel over-the-top through the first half of spring. It features that same lofty duck down and waterproof exterior, but a slightly longer silhouette with a marginally extended back hem.

Again, I’m well aware we’re rapidly approaching the Ides of March. But if spring feels a lot more like a far-off fantasy than an imminent reality—and you somehow made it this far without a proper winter jacket—indulge in a little Nanga, why don’t you, as a final cold-weather treat.