style • 11.12.2025
ANOTHER ICON, HACKED. SLAM JAM X ALPHA INDUSTRIES MAKE THEIR CWU-45 HERITAGE BOMBER JACKET.
It marked a turning point in aviation design when it was first introduced, in the 1970s. It replaced the MA-1 flight jacket inside the cockpit, trading shiny nylon for flame-resistant Nomex, and a fold-over collar instead of the knitted one. It was a safety upgrade, pure and simple — what emerged was a new icon.
Our previous collaboration with Alpha Industries had us working on the MA-1: its classic silhouette featured Slam Jam reflective graphics inspired by Italian police uniforms. Alpha Industries called it “a counter-take on its own significance”.
That’s Slam Jam MO. We intervene on classics once they’ve become the code. Workwear, sportswear, uniforms: their function is clear, their meaning collective. We step in once the story is complete, alter a few details, and send the signal back to culture. It’s not about making new versions of great garments, it’s a commentary on how symbols circulate.
The new removable patches read Chaos Is Order, 1989, and Do Not Panic—statements that belong halfway between instruction and philosophy. The slogans act like mission badges for a different kind of flight.
For Slam Jam, the gesture is always the same: take what’s untouchable, touch it lightly, and return it altered. For Alpha Industries, it’s another conversation about longevity: what happens when a uniform meets a subculture, and both still look forward.
