Warren K Cook Tweed Jacket

[Friday Casual Now]

Apologies if this is the wrong location or type of post, but I have a couple of WKC suits and a couple of Coppley ones about to go to Amity, it seems a shame since they are virtually new. Any ideas on better uses? Museum donation perhaps? Vintage dealers? Please help, I just hate to see 100% Canadian made high end like new suits turned into rags for halloween or worse yet, couch stuffing !! Thanks.

 

[poppysvintageclothing]

You might want to contact one our members here, Jonathan, as he is the curator of the Fashion History Museum.
Just click on the wording below to take you there.

Fashion History Museum

 

[William Crooks]

Hi there, I am new to the forum and am delighted to find a community that may have some insight on my find. It is an absolutely mint tweed blazer by Warren Cook. It looks as if it was never worn and has no fading whatsoever. Even better is the fact that it fits me as it was tailored for me.

 

[Debra Neal]

Warren K Cook was a high end men’s suit custom and some in rack. My dad worked there from the time he was 16 in 1950 and was the clothes designer there for many years. I knew a lot of the staff there and grew up in the Cook employee family. They made suits for Pierre Trudeau along with many others and designed and made the first Blue Jay dress suits. My dad also cut the first Roots jackets as a side job lol. I have some of his suits still in the closet although he has passed.

 

[poppysvintageclothing]

So nice to have learned so much more about this man and his company.

 

[Debra Neal]

Found this, on the styleforum site:
"I encourage any member of this site, especially those who esteem themselves as experts, to research Coppley as a manufacturer and as a definer of tastes. Though possibly less well known in the US than in Canada, their products are of the highest quality, with careful attention to tailoring and shaping. Moreover, few truly fine tailors are as continually innovative in style as Coppley, which fuses the best aspects of contemporary fashion with traditional style elements to create its distinctive look. Coppley also manufactures the popular Keithmoor line, as well as Mateo Maas, Cambridge and Warren K. Cook. I encourage anyone to experience the quality of these brands."

You can see the attention to detail, on your jacket, by noting the herringbone matching, in the placement of the large front patch pockets, for exampe. It's a garment of integrity.

Hi, My father, Anthony DeLuca, was the head designer for Warren K Cook for 20 years or more… he began as a floor runner at 15 and was there until they closed the doors. I spent many hours running around the shop there as a kid and have a few pictures of the rows of sewing machines. I don not believe that they outsourced their product but manufactured on their premise 15 Fraser Ave. Cambridge may have as well as others but not Cooks. I also have a few of his suits that I will be posting for sale soon. Time to let it go..

 

[The Vintage Merchant]

welcome, Debra! thank you for posting!

 

[poppysvintageclothing]

Thank you, Debra, for telling us about your dad working for them.