Thoroughly Mod-ern: The Burton parka

The British menswear brand has released a covetable winter warmer inspired by a classically cool coat, writes Peter Howarth

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In the late 1970s, there was a Mod revival band called The Merton Parkas. Their best-known song was "You Need Wheels", a paean to the freedom afforded by owning a car, and, another good pub-quiz fact: their keyboard player, Mick Talbot, went on to form The Style Council with Paul Weller.

Today the band is a footnote in the history of the second wave of Mod-ishness, which was in part fuelled by the 1979 film Quadrophenia, Franc Roddam's screen interpretation of The Who's 1973 concept album, starring the parka-wearing Phil Daniels as Jimmy. But while The Merton Parkas are no more, the Burton parka is something worth checking out this season – and it owes much of its design to the coats that were worn by Mods, both first generation and second.

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