Full disclosure: we love our Barbour jackets here at MR PORTER. Can’t get enough of them. In fact, if we were forced to name just one downside, it’s that we don't get the chance to wear them often enough. 

We don’t mean that we’re limited by situation; while they may be outdoor jackets at heart, and have historically been worn by the kind of people who drive Land Rovers and own Labradors, recently they’ve become just as at home in the city. No: it’s more a question of climate. There’s nothing quite like waxed cotton for beating back the elements on a brisk autumnal walk, but by the time spring arrives and the mercury heads north, it can begin to feel a little suffocating. 

Well, the good people at Barbour must be mind-readers, or at least have an excellent customer insight team, because the latest collection from Barbour Gold Standard, the brand’s recently launched premium diffusion line, appears to offer the ideal solution. Comprising a five-strong line up of Barbour classics, but constructed from lightweight materials in place of that trademark heavy-duty waxed cotton, the collection is a breezy take on the brand’s time-honoured formula that’s tailormade for spring.

And when we say time-honoured, we really do mean it: Barbour can trace its history all the way back to 1894, when it was founded by Mr John Barbour in South Shields, a coastal town in the North East of England. Barbour remains headquartered there to this day, where it is under the ownership of the fifth generation of the Barbour family – making it something of a unicorn in an industry dominated by conglomerates.

One of the benefits of keeping things in the family is that it’s easier to maintain a healthy archive, and it’s here that the spring collection from Gold Standard finds its inspiration. More specifically, it’s the brand’s military heritage that comes to the fore – so if you detect a certain martial rigour in the collection’s khaki and olive-drab colour scheme and in the garments’ finer details, which include bellows pockets and epaulettes, you’ll understand why.

Modelled in the photographs you can see here by British actor and Barbour ambassador Mr Sam Claflin are two of our personal highlights from the collection; carry on reading for a closer look at both.

If you've got a picture in your head of a Barbour jacket, there's a good chance you're thinking of a Beaufort. One of Barbour's most recognisable designs, the Beaufort has been part of the line-up since 1983. This version maintains key details from the original, such as the trademark corduroy collar, but opts for a featherweight ripstop cotton fabrication, making it far better suited to the warmer months. A little waterproofing is never a bad idea – especially in Barbour’s native Britain! – and so the fabric has been given a light wax treatment to keep you dry should an April shower pass overhead.

Another classic from the archives given a Gold Standard makeover, the Corbridge is Barbour’s take on a four-pocket utility field jacket. The military roots of this garment are subtly emphasised here by small finishing touches such as the epaulettes, a shoulder detail that originally designed to display military rank, and, of course, by the colour, an overdyed olive drab (Barbour unambiguously refers to it as “military olive”). Again, though, the central story here is the material, a “memory nylon” fabrication, which offers unbeatable lightness and breathability.