Double Helix in the flesh quick reference

[MrCC]

I thought I share, as it could be of interest to someone...

I was in Bangkok last week and unexpectedly came across some DHW jackets on a rack in a corner of the monstrous Siam Paragon mall of all places!

It turns up one of their official stockists for South East Asia have a retail space on the 3rd floor

On display they had couple of type A-2 in seal brown , a Deviant double rider and a Hugging The Curve both black tea-core HH

It's the first time I come across any DHW in the flesh and I was impressed.

I handled them as much as I could trying not to look too weired to the eye of the store bloke, no suitable size was available to try on, which was probably just as well as I was also under strict surveillance from the GF so any temptation to pull a fast one on the old credit card was futile.

Anyway, the leather felt very substantial but surprisingly supple. Lots of nice grain from the get go and really deep and rich tone on both the seal brown and the black. The finishing looked top notch, I really liked the contrast of the brown inner zip with the black tea-core

The pattern seemed first class and an impressive attention to details. The knitted cuffs and waistband of the A-2 seemed very sturdy and high quality, the cotton lining as well as the pockets lining felt substantial, same for zips and buttons

handling the jacket off the rack it felt quite a bit lighter than any Horse Hide I've come across but all in all the general impression was of beautiful jackets, exceptionally well made with fine materials

Surprisingly, the price in local currency compared to some of the UK stockists would have saved around 35 to 40% and had a suitable size been available I probably would've tried a distracting manoeuvre on the GF and pulled the trigger, probably for the best there wasn't one.

In the end I ended up with a headache due to Mall's glitzy lighting and a heavily discounted Filson duffle, but I keep secretly going back scrolling the DHW Website.

 

[codex]

Thanks for the impression, it seems to be a common conclusuion that they look and feel better than expected.

However. The leather felt substantial to you, but the horse hide felt lighter than any you have ever come across, can you clarify?

 

[JonS1967]

From what I understand, their leather is pit tanned and does not have a lot of oils or waxes in it. Since it isn’t stuffed with a bunch of oils and waxes, the leather comes out lighter in weight despite of being 1.3 to 1.5 mm thick.

 

[MrCC]

Thanks for the impression, it seems to be a common conclusuion that they look and feel better than expected.

However. The leather felt substantial to you, but the horse hide felt lighter than any you have ever come across, can you clarify?

Yes it does seem contradictory but the only way I can describe it is that it looked and felt substantial "in construction" and quality at the touch and well stitched and put together on close inspection

That is despite also feeling quite light when lifted and handled

When I took it off the rack and slipped it off the hanger (causing increasingly worried looks from the GF) the weight of it felt "easier" than expected.

But not in a "cheap" fashion/mall jacket kinda way, rather it felt like it would've been very much comfortable to wear straightaway compare to my previous experience of HH

Hope that makes a bit more sense!

 

[JonS1967]

Yes it does seem contradictory but the only way I can describe it is that it looked and felt substantial "in construction" and quality at the touch and well stitched and put together on close inspection

That is despite also feeling quite light when lifted and handled

When I took it off the rack and slipped it off the hanger (causing increasingly worried looks from the GF) the weight of it felt "easier" than expected.

But not in a "cheap" fashion/mall jacket kinda way, rather it felt like it would've been very much comfortable to wear straightaway compare to my previous experience of HH

Hope that makes a bit more sense!

I agree. My Innovator is noticeably lighter than any of my other jackets despite its 1.3-1.5mm thickness. As mentioned in my post above, it’s likely due to their tanning process. This is the black tea core. Beautiful leather in my opinion.

 

[MrCC]

From what I understand, their leather is pit tanned and does not have a lot of oils or waxes in it. Since it isn’t stuffed with a bunch of oils and waxes, the leather comes out lighter in weight despite of being 1.3 to 1.5 mm thick.

That would make sense, as it didn't feel particularly shining or waxy despite the depth of the colour

I agree. My Innovator is noticeably lighter than any of my other jackets despite its 1.3-1.5mm thickness. As mentioned in my post above, it’s likely due to their tanning process. This is the black tea core. Beautiful leather in my opinion.
View attachment 767904 View attachment 767906 View attachment 767905

Great looking jacket and beautiful leather
The contrasting brown detailing works a treat, how old is it? Looks nicely broken in and an early patina!

 

[JonS1967]

That would make sense, as it didn't feel particularly shining or waxy despite the depth of the colour

Great looking jacket and beautiful leather
The contrasting brown detailing works a treat, how old is it? Looks nicely broken in and an early patina!

My Innovator is about 6 months old. I wore it a lot to break it in, but it was comfortable right out of the box. I ordered directly from DH and would do so again without hesitation. Great company with a top notch product. Here’s a few pictures with the mouton collar. Oh, and the pattern is amazing as well.

 

[MrCC]

My Innovator is about 6 months old. I wore it a lot to break it in, but it was comfortable right out of the box. I ordered directly from DH and would do so again without hesitation. Great company with a top notch product. Here’s a few pictures with the mouton collar. Oh, and the pattern is amazing as well.
View attachment 767911 View attachment 767917

Congrats, great fit, I am ever more inclined to making an enquiry, good to know about a good experience in ordering directly too, the UK stockists typically carry very limited models and sizes

 

[JonS1967]

Congrats, great fit, I am ever more inclined to making an enquiry, good to know about a good experience in ordering directly too, the UK stockists typically carry very limited models and sizes

Matsuda is a pleasure to work with. He’s very responsive and will take good care of you.

 

[MrCC]

Matsuda is a pleasure to work with. He’s very responsive and will take good care of you.

Very responsive is very good in these very unresponsive times we live in
Thanks for the intel

 

[JonS1967]

In case anyone here is interested, here’s a good thread on DH: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/double-helix-works.106511/

 

[MrCC]

In case anyone here is interested, here’s a good thread on DH: https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/double-helix-works.106511/

Yes, I remember reading that a little while ago, possibly how I first heard about DH

 

[Monitor]

My Innovator is about 6 months old. I wore it a lot to break it in, but it was comfortable right out of the box. I ordered directly from DH and would do so again without hesitation. Great company with a top notch product. Here’s a few pictures with the mouton collar. Oh, and the pattern is amazing as well.
View attachment 767911 View attachment 767917

The jacket looks nice.