Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, known as Le Corbusier, had a rational vision of the architectural organization of space. It was essential to be able to do more with less, the optimization of space was an obsession for this visionary creator. This is how he ordered his structures on a free plan and imagined his constructions as a total work of art: his conceptions integrate all collective equipments in a single building. This was the beginning of postmodernism and the rationalization of urban space. Le Corbusier also loved clothing. He was a well-known customer of the Arnys house. Léon Grimbert, head-tailor of the French house, imagined one day a jacket for this peculiar customer. "An elegant jacket that forgets it is part of a suit" boasted Arnys in 2010, the "Forestière". A jacket with a collar without flap and patch pockets, inspired by those worn by the forest rangers of the French region of Sologne. If the house has since disappeared, the heritage of this jacket remains intact. 

The garment is the historical product of its social context, the desire to extirpate from its social condition and the search for comfort are often the catalysts. This hybrid jacket finds its echo in other clothes before it, in particular the hunting jackets. This is the case of the Teba jacket, a revolutionary jacket.

Here is the story of a love affair with clothing as it rarely happens, the Teba jacket by Justo Gimeno being the protagonist.

Let’s have a closer look.

What is a Teba jacket?

The Teba jacket is named from the 22nd Count of Teba, Carlos Alfonso de Mitjans y Fitz-James Stuart (1907 - 1997), grand-nephew of the Empress Eugénie. He was said to be the best shooter in Europe and was given a jacket by King Alfonso XIII (1886 - 1941), cut in Savile Row, which - after some improvements by a tailor from Zarautz, in the Spanish Basque Country - has survived the ages.

My quest 

Like many, after exploring the casual and formal possibilities of my wardrobe, I felt I was missing an in-between. I was looking for a jacket that would be an intermediary between casual and formal. I was looking for a kind of urban slack jacket. 

My fascination began after a trip to Andalusia in 2019 where all the elegant old gentlemen I met on the street were wearing a peculiar jacket with style. I noted the characteristic rounded lapel notch, buttons on the sleeves, 4 central buttons and above all a total absence of interlining. A completely unstructured jacket. It was for me a must have, almost an obsession. I did some research and went to a Sevillian store that sold suits, I learned that it was a jacket called "Teba" from the name of the count who offered this piece to King Alfons XIII for his hunting sprees. The seller told me the other name of the "chaqueta Teba" was "la tiradora", because one "shoots" with it. Heading this time to "El Corte Inglés" - equivalent of Galeries Lafayette in Spain - I discover that the Tebas are sold as timeless garments but in limited fabrics and colors: cotton/jersey and mostly blue or green. As often, no size could satisfy my body shape.

Back in Paris, I started looking for a Teba, in vain. I even ordered one from a tailor, but the result was not convincing, I did not find the casualness with which these old Sevillian gentlemen used to wear this chaqueta. I also ordered one on the Spanish website Lopez Aragon, but again, the Teba was missing something.

I had heard of Spanish workshops that made Tebas. Bel y Cia in Barcelona was one of them, a tailoring house making Tebas in MTM - Made to Measure - but extremely expensive. I did some research and found Justo Gimeno, in Zaragoza. I see that they are distributed in Paris at Beige Habilleur but unfortunately the selected sizes did not suit me ... Justo Gimeno has no website, but they do have an Instagram account! This is how my adventure with Justo Gimeno began. 

A house more than a century old

In 1885, Justo Gimeno Padrilla left Argentina to train as a tailor in Spain, opening his first workshop in Zaragoza.  For some years, the company has been collaborating with several brands, making Tebas for them (Merchant Fox is one of them, always in exclusive fabrics).

Justo Gimeno obviously offers a tailoring service in Zaragoza. But since I couldn't get there easily, I asked them if it was possible to do "remote Made-To-Measure". It's a risky endeavor when you don't know your measurements well, but I've already ordered entire suits following this principle (my Prologue Hong Kong suits and jackets for example!).  An exchange of emails with the sales manager followed and I then ordered two jackets: one in blue fresco wool and the other in green linen. 

The conquest

Once I received the jackets, I was conquered. The measurements were perfect, the jackets well cut. Justo Gimeno does not - to my knowledge – make remote MTM. For this reason, I had ordered a surplus of blue fresco fabric to make trousers to transform this Teba jacket into a suit. I did this with Ardentes Clipei, a tailor in Paris.

Today I have several Teba jackets, all from Justo Gimeno. The fabrics, the service, the quality and the overall rendering are incredible. 

I often wear a Teba jacket as a mismatch, but I can also turn it into a suit with my blue fresco trousers. I often wear it to work as pictured here: a blue knit tie, an OCBD flap pocket, knee socks and belgian loafers from Crown Northampton. Nothing prevents me from swapping these loafers for canvas shoes for example. Because that's the advantage of an outfit with a Teba jacket: everything is possible.

The perfect jacket 

Since lockdown (Act I, March 2020), our way of dressing has evolved. Less suits, more comfort. But comfort does not come before style. For this reason, I think the Teba jacket is the most attractive piece in my wardrobe. I wear it continuously and on all occasions: work, outings and even weddings...I constantly get compliments and questions about it when I wear it, and I always answer them with the same enthusiasm. If you're still not convinced, consider even James Bond wore a Teba jacket. It was in 1989, with Timothy Dalton in License to Kill.

Where to find a Teba in Paris/France?  

- Beige Habilleur (exclusive distributor of Justo Gimeno in France)

- Cifonelli

- Artumès & Co

- Artling

- Berteil

On which websites can I find a Teba ? 

- The Armoury

- Michael Jondral

- Curzon Classics

- Oliver Brown

- Last of England

- Bel y Cia

- The Merchant Fox

- Lopez Aragon