Last year The Territory Ahead released the Amboseli Safari Jacket. We can tell you first hand it was built to a really good quality, a hell of a quality. It blended utilitarianism and tradition in every aspect. It borrowed heavily from the American field jackets, which was its right as an American brand; ancestral learning that granted credibility. The jacket poured an American field into African safari and stirred it all together with amazing quality, only to leave it in an unappetizing color. Unfortunately that color wasn’t necessarily true on most screens, because of a weird quirk between screen settings and the actual color. Making the color of the jacket richer and better looking on screen.
The jacket came in the worst and blandest of light khaki tans, much to the disappointment of a number of people such as myself who frequently have their devices set to “pop” colors. Many people expected it to be this deep earthy autumn golden bronze; the color of wet autumn wheat fields. A color any deeper that would be orange, and any lighter would be straw. There is the problem, it was lighter. It was all a lie, maybe a lie we told you ourselves, for setting our screens the way we did. The color didn’t match the images because of phone settings.
I personally bought the jacket, the incredible quality, not bad fit. The belt was a little long I thought, but from the beginning I planned on replacing it, or cenching it back behind. It really offered what so many men needed, a jacket they could take into the city and out into the country. A pocket for everything, and not too many pockets; a balancing act in any safari or field jacket. The lining was comfortable, and I have no doubt very warm. I fully expected to be able to wear the jacket from September to November, and then again in late February to early April; a true two season jacket. They’re so few two season jackets nowadays. I just couldn’t shake that pale straw color, the company calls Dijon.
To make matters worse, there was the matter of the button holds. Rather than traditional thread stitching, the company went for a type of ribbon for lack of a better word. This material held the buttons on, and I have zero doubt that it did so extremely well. It was absolutely that extra touch the jacket needed to show off its field readiness. The only problem was it was this orangish red which would have been fine had the color been true to expectations. I think they would have blended well together. They did it right, they built it exactly the way it needed to be, and nobody else has done that in an age it seems like. Except they got the color wrong. Now I know that in reality I am the one, along with others, who are at fault for assuming the wrong color. However, I don’t think that changes the fact that The Territory Ahead should have made it in a richer earthier color.
They went to bat, they swung, they made contact, They knocked it out of the park; then took off the uniform, and went home without walking the bases. I really hope that someone from The Territory Ahead reads this, fixes this problem, because if they do; people will be talking about this safari jacket 20 years from now as 40 and 50-year-old men walk down the street still wearing them 20 years later. I really hope The Territory Ahead does this again, but in a better color.
Kurai Safari 