Invest in outerwear from Canali, Mackintosh and more – and find yourself swiping past the sad emojis when the heavens open.

“An old raincoat won’t ever let you down,” sang Mr Rod Stewart some years ago. The sentiment is even more pertinent to a new generation of outdoor apparel that marries hi-tech, element-repelling fabrics and robust insulation with elegant design and refined detailing. Today’s performance pieces – whether from outdoor brands broadening their remit into contemporary style or fashion houses deploying cutting-edge cloths – mix reliability with desirability. That’s why it’s not just the advent of April showers that has inspired MR PORTER to feature technical rainwear as one of this season’s key trends. Some have been designed for urban squalls, others are tailormade for back-country cloud bursts. But they will all walk you through a storm with your head, if not your hood, held high.

This army-green and midnight-blue parka has been designed exclusively for MR PORTER by The Workers Club, a new brand dedicated to producing “key pieces that become future classics”. And who’s to say it hasn’t succeeded handsomely with this functional yet diverting offering? It’s crafted from rugged H2O Protector® cotton-canvas, with a detachable hood and reinforced elbow patches, so it can look the consummate part on lofty peaks or in city parks, while keeping the hail and gales at bay. Play into its heritage feel with a classic striped T-shirt and some sturdy boots.

Wear it with

In its Arc’teryx Veilance line, Canadian outdoors brand Arc’teryx creates apparel that seamlessly merges performance with sleek, minimal design. And this slim-fit jacket is a towering example of how that works. It’s crafted from a featherweight Ripstop shell, making it fully resistant to wind, water and surface tearing, and has taped seams to provide superlative insulation, but its high style – elegant collar, subtle buttoning, concealed pockets – means it can take you from cycle superhighway to client meeting, via squally showers and steaming sunny interludes, with almost offhand ease. Its supremely clean design will be best complemented by other graphic pieces – try a tee from Japan’s Aloye and some pristine white sneakers.

Wear it with

With a name like Mackintosh, you’d expect this venerable Scottish label – purveyors of waterproof outerwear since 1824 – to put the “able” into impermeable, and so it proves with this khaki hooded iteration of its classic full-length raincoat. The colour and detailing (including generous patched pockets and a concealed front fastening) both have something of the military about them, which will hopefully make you feel a bit more tough as you stride out bravely this weekend into whatever April has to throw at you. Wear with a contrasting shirt in a light sand colour – such soldier-y shades tend to look good together.

Wear it with

The American designer Mr Thom Browne is known for putting a quirky, sometimes even outre spin on classic menswear staples, and his rainwear is no exception – as this Prince of Wales checked overcoat, crafted in Italy, proves. Its sober grey is thoroughly leavened by its water-resistant shell and its rubber-taped seams, which are guaranteed to protect any investment suiting sequestered beneath from succumbing to sub-prime status, while its singular style should spike rates of interest from co-workers, commuters and general onlookers. Throw it on over your suit, or, if you’re looking for a new one, perhaps consider this minimal and beautifully cut example from designer favourite Jil Sander.

Wear it with

You don’t have to trek to the ends of the earth to enjoy the benefits of Patagonia’s high-end outdoor clothing, but, if a quirk of fate should expose you to the swells around Cape Horn or the force-niners howling though Río Gallegos, you’ll find this Torrentshell jacket as robust and indefatigable as its namesake region. How does it do it? By being crafted from ultra-lightweight, double-layer H2N0® shell and being DWR-coated for water resistance, plus being equipped with elasticated cuffs and hem, and a hood complete with laminated visor to deploy when an occluded front, or even an Antarctic blizzard, strikes. Got all that? If you’re heading on a real adventure, you might also need some other kit – a wooly inner layer from the likes of Snow Peak comes particularly recommended.

Wear it with

Loro Piana’s patented Storm System® technology – a mix of natural and tech fabrics that repel water and wind while allowing the skin to breathe – can render any item completely waterproof, and its magic has been wrought on this Roadster jacket, designed to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance collectors’ car competition, making it as practical as you could wish for and as polished as you could desire. You can dispense with the detachable quilted gilet on warmer days, but either way, this is a garment as elegant, and as impervious to inclemency, as a 1924 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A. This is an understated piece, so feel free to play it down with some premium sweats and some elegant sneakers from Harrys of London.

Wear it with

This reversible raincoat from Canali will give you a double dose of the blues when the clouds roll in – and yes, that is a good thing, because there’s an elegant navy side that perfectly complements and protects your tailored attire, and a mellower blue side for dressed-down, if still monsooning, days. The concealed fastening and button cuffs add a subtle polish, and both faces are cut from waterproof wool-twill, which just confirms one of MR PORTER’s failsafe rainy-day adages: where there’s a twill, there’s a way. This coat will look great over a shirt and blazer, but at the weekend it will also work with the more casual combination of chinos and sweater. How flexible.

Wear it with

Shop all raincoats here