The Chore Coat That Inspired a Century of Copycats Is Back
ShoppingLe Mont St. Michel's work jacket, an icon of French design, just returned to the shelves stateside.By Gerald OrtizMay 14, 2025Photo: Bowen Fernie; Collage: Mari HerremaSave this storySaveSave this storySaveAll products featured on GQ are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.Hear us out, fellas: The perfect light jacket might actually be…a coat. But not just any coat—a chore coat, the rugged, durable button-front layer that looks killer with jeans and boots and just as swell with trousers and loafers. We're on-the-record fans of chore coats around here, and it's hard to go wrong with your pick of the litter. But why settle for any old version when you can snag one from the OG? Especially when the OG is Le Mont St. Michel, the French workwear stalwart that's been making one of our all-time favorite riffs since 1913.Le Mont St. Michel is like France's answer to Carhartt or Dickies, a storied purveyor of real-deal workwear initially designed for back-breaking labor. Its moleskin work jacket is the product it's famous for, a Gallic counterpart to the Carhartt Detroit or the Dickies Eisenhower.Bowen FernieBowen FernieChevronChevronLe Mont St. MichelFrench Moleskin Work Jacket$275 HuckberryYou've heard the saying “if it ain't broke, don't fix it,” right? This is a prime example. The French brand's chore coat hasn't just been around for over a century—it's remained largely unchanged throughout that entire span. Plenty of garments claim to get better with age, but Le Mont's sought-after work jackets really do; menswear nerds pay through the nose for vintage versions with decades of fraying and hard-earned patina.Le Mont St. MichelFrench Moleskin Work Jacket$275 HuckberryLe Mont Saint MichelFrench Moleskin Work Jacket$275 HuckberryThere's just one problem—these jackets are hard to track down. See, there are only a handful of stores in the States that actually stock Le Mont St. Michel's signature chore coat, and they tend to sell through inventory fast, leaving folks trawling vintage haunts like eBay, Etsy, and Grailed, suddenly contending with wildly inflated resell prices.Earlier this week, though, we noticed that Huckberry finally restocked the style in a gang of great colors including khaki, olive, and, of course, the shade of blue damn-near synonymous with the silhouette itself: classic bleu de travail, a.k.a. worker blue. We're fairly confident Le Mont will still be making its hero product a century from now, but we'd put the shelf life of this batch at a few days, tops. Vive la restock!
All products featured on GQ are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
Hear us out, fellas: The perfect light jacket might actually be…a coat. But not just any coat—a chore coat, the rugged, durable button-front layer that looks killer with jeans and boots and just as swell with trousers and loafers. We're on-the-record fans of chore coats around here, and it's hard to go wrong with your pick of the litter. But why settle for any old version when you can snag one from the OG? Especially when the OG is Le Mont St. Michel, the French workwear stalwart that's been making one of our all-time favorite riffs since 1913.
Le Mont St. Michel is like France's answer to Carhartt or Dickies, a storied purveyor of real-deal workwear initially designed for back-breaking labor. Its moleskin work jacket is the product it's famous for, a Gallic counterpart to the Carhartt Detroit or the Dickies Eisenhower.
You've heard the saying “if it ain't broke, don't fix it,” right? This is a prime example. The French brand's chore coat hasn't just been around for over a century—it's remained largely unchanged throughout that entire span. Plenty of garments claim to get better with age, but Le Mont's sought-after work jackets really do; menswear nerds pay through the nose for vintage versions with decades of fraying and hard-earned patina.
There's just one problem—these jackets are hard to track down. See, there are only a handful of stores in the States that actually stock Le Mont St. Michel's signature chore coat, and they tend to sell through inventory fast, leaving folks trawling vintage haunts like eBay, Etsy, and Grailed, suddenly contending with wildly inflated resell prices.
Earlier this week, though, we noticed that Huckberry finally restocked the style in a gang of great colors including khaki, olive, and, of course, the shade of blue damn-near synonymous with the silhouette itself: classic bleu de travail, a.k.a. worker blue. We're fairly confident Le Mont will still be making its hero product a century from now, but we'd put the shelf life of this batch at a few days, tops. Vive la restock!
