The bomber jacket is among the pieces in the Vestium NY range best suited to artist collaboration. Its silhouette creates the conditions for the collaboration to work: a substantial back panel, two structured front panels, a clean exterior that reads as resolved without demanding attention, and an interior that — because the bomber is often worn open — becomes part of the visible garment. The collaboration is not hidden in the way a suit jacket's lining tends to be; it is encountered in ordinary wearing.
This is an account of how a Vestium × Amano collaboration bomber is made — from the fabric development through the finished piece.
Starting with the Fabric
A standard bomber is built on a foundation: an exterior shell in a specific material, a lining, and the construction details (ribbing at collar, cuffs, and hem; the zipper; the interior pockets) that give the silhouette its character. In a standard Vestium bomber, the exterior fabric is selected from the available cloths — Holland & Sherry wools, CARNET blends, quality corduroy and velvet — and the lining is a conventional silk or printed silk in a complementary color.
In the Supernatural collaboration, the foundation changes at the lining. The silk-seaweed-recycled cotton blend developed for the Amano collection is the lining fabric — and in some pieces, the exterior panel fabric as well. This is not a standard lining material; it is an innovation. The seaweed fiber in the blend gives the surface a luminosity that conventional silk linings approximate but don't quite achieve. It accepts Amano's printed imagery with the color depth the artwork requires.
The development of the fabric preceded the garment: Vestium worked with the fabric producer to establish that the seaweed-recycled cotton blend would behave correctly through the construction process — that it would hold its drape after cutting, that the print would survive the pressing and seaming of assembly, that the finished garment would wear as a garment should. The fabric is a piece of research in itself.
Selecting the Artwork
Yoshitaka Amano's visual archive is substantial — decades of work across anime, illustration, fine art painting, and video game design. Selecting which works appear on which garments in the Supernatural collection required curatorial decisions: which images translate from the scale of illustration or painting to the scale of a bomber lining? Which works read in motion, when the jacket is worn open? Which images have the right internal structure for the specific dimensions of a bomber's interior panels?
The bomber's back panel is its largest single surface — approximately the width of a person's upper back, roughly square in dimension. Amano's most complex compositional works translate well here: figures and landscapes that have internal depth, that reward looking, that work at close range as well as across a room.
The front panels and sleeves are smaller and more architectural in shape. Works with strong linear elements — the flowing figure outlines, the stylized character forms — give these panels coherence without crowding them.
The process of matching artwork to garment section is a design discipline in its own right. The bomber is not printed with a single repeating image across the entire surface; it is composed, with specific artworks or elements from specific works placed on specific panels in deliberate relationship to each other and to the garment's structure.
The Exterior
The exterior of a Supernatural collaboration bomber is deliberately restrained. The interior carries the artwork; the exterior should not compete with it. A Holland & Sherry charcoal or navy wool, or a quality textured cloth in a dark neutral — something with surface interest that reads as deliberate but does not demand attention — is the right foundation for the collaboration.
The ribbing at collar, cuffs, and hem is selected to work with the exterior in near-tonal contrast: the exterior and the ribbing form a single visual unit, creating a clean silhouette whose primary visual interest is revealed when the jacket is opened or worn open.
Construction
Construction of the collaboration bomber follows the same process as any Vestium commission, with specific attention to the printed lining fabric. The seaweed-recycled cotton blend requires slightly different pressing than a conventional silk lining — heat levels and duration must account for the seaweed fiber's specific thermal behavior — and the print positioning across the cut panels must be checked before assembly to confirm that the composition reads correctly after the seams are closed.
The ribbing application — the most mechanically precise part of the bomber construction — is standard. The zipper is set with the same attention as any Vestium piece: a quality hardware choice in a finish that works with the exterior cloth, set cleanly and without visible pull.
The finished piece is pressed in stages: the exterior to set the cloth, the lining to establish its drape, the collar and cuffs to confirm the ribbing sits correctly. The jacket is delivered in a garment bag.
What It Is
A Supernatural collaboration bomber is a garment that functions correctly and is something more. The exterior is a well-made jacket in a quality cloth, fitted to the specific body of the person wearing it. The interior carries the visual universe of Yoshitaka Amano — one of the most distinctive visual imaginations of the past fifty years — in a fabric developed specifically to host it.
The two elements are not in tension. The tailoring serves the garment; the artwork serves the art. Together they produce an object that is fully both.
At Vestium NY
Collaboration bombers are available through consultation. The exterior fabric, ribbing, and hardware choices are made at consultation; the Supernatural artwork on the lining fabric is part of the collaboration commission framework.
Explore Vestium NY's explore custom bomber jackets.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Amano's artwork incorporated into the bomber?
Amano's illustrated artwork is printed onto the silk-seaweed-recycled cotton blend developed for the Supernatural collection. This printed fabric is used as the lining — and in some pieces, as an exterior panel fabric — in the collaboration bomber.
Can the artwork be seen without removing the jacket?
Yes — because bombers are often worn open, the lining is visible in ordinary wearing. The collar interior and front panels are visible when the jacket is worn casually open.
Why seaweed fiber in the lining fabric?
Seaweed fiber gives the fabric surface the luminosity and color depth that Amano's printed artwork requires. It also reflects Vestium's commitment to materials that are both excellent and responsible — seaweed grows without freshwater or fertilizer.
Is the collaboration bomber more or less durable than a standard bomber?
Equally durable on the exterior. The seaweed-blend lining requires dry cleaning rather than machine washing, and the cleaner should be informed of the printed surface. Normal care conditions maintain the print.
Can I choose a different exterior color than charcoal or navy?
Yes — the exterior fabric is selected at consultation from available Holland & Sherry and CARNET options. The constraint is that the exterior should be restrained enough to complement rather than compete with the interior artwork.
Work with Vestium NY. The exterior is the jacket. The interior is Yoshitaka Amano. Together they are the piece.