Forget everything you know about this wardrobe staple and embrace these twists on the classic indigo style.

Yes, you probably already have a denim jacket. At least, if we at MR PORTER are doing our jobs right. If not, perhaps it’s time to watch our recent How To Wear A Denim Jacket video, which neatly explains why this perennial favourite is so versatile and wearable. Anyway, assuming you’ve nailed the basics of this admittedly uncomplicated discipline, we invite you to consider the following: as the new-season items begin to dribble into our weekly uploads on MR PORTER, it seems that designers are having a little more fun with the denim jacket than in the days of yore. In fact, the below items are threatening to transform this trusty favourite from “staple” to “statement.” Here’s how:

We had to restrain ourselves from yelping “yee-haw!” when this decidedly Western-themed jacket from Saint Laurent arrived this week. But really, we needn’t have. As we’ve already remarked on The Daily, the cowboy-rancher influence is set to be strong in the coming AW season, so it’s a classic case of if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em with this one. Commit absolutely with the matching hat, and enjoy the feeling of being mistaken from Mr Rock Hudson, as seen in the epic 1956 Western Giant.

Gucci’s approach to the denim jacket, as with Gucci’s approach with pretty much everything these days, (thanks to the efforts of visionary creative director Mr Alessandro Michele), is to add some extravagant embroidery and the new house slogan “L’aveugle par amour” (they translate this as “blind for love”). The resulting piece is that rare designer item that feels, thanks to the decidedly retro aesthetic of said embellishment, like a lot of love and soul has gone into the making of it. All you have to do now is pour the same amount of effort into wearing it: play to its wistful feel with an equally nostalgic penny-collar shirt from Caruso.

The Japanese craft of boro, that is collaging together various scraps of indigo-dyed cotton with elaborate, quilt-like overstitching, was developed over many centuries by rural workers who saw the value (and necessity) of recycling their textiles. Now, it’s something all of us in the West can appreciate, via items like the above intricately patchworked jacket from Japanese brand KAPITAL. If you’re the type that likes everything in your wardrobe to have both a whiff of authenticity and a pre-loved, heritage feel, then this is the ultimate denim jacket for you. Up the straight-from-the-paddy-fields ruggedness with a pair of distressed chinos from Fabric-Brand & Co.