New Delhi: American designer Kenneth Cole has confirmed plans to re-release a version of the famed, battered leather jacket worn by the late chef and TV host Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations, more than two decades after the travel and food show first appeared on screen.
The announcement came in an interview with British GQ, published on 26 August 2026. Cole reached out to the magazine after it published an earlier investigation into the jacket’s origins, which had long been the subject of online fascination and memes.
“It’s a long time ago, obviously,” he said about the jacket. “But in some ways it doesn’t seem so long ago.”
Cole confirmed that the jacket came from his autumn/winter 2003 collection, a period when leather outerwear made up “a big part of our business”.
“I’ve always believed that a leather coat is like a man’s ultimate accessory,” he told the magazine, describing it as a versatile piece that can be thrown over almost anything.
Cole does not particularly engage with the debate over whether Bourdain’s garment was technically a blazer or something else.
“I would just call it a leather jacket,” he said, before agreeing that “classic car coat” would also fit.
Bourdain made it his own
Bourdain is a uniform dresser, Cole noted, adding: “He didn’t let the clothes define him – he defined the clothes.”
Bourdain’s repeated appearances in the jacket helped make it closely associated with his personality. Cole recalled him as “the guy every designer would want to dress.”
Cole was involved with amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, as well as homelessness initiatives at the time, and remembers crossing paths with Bourdain at several events.
“We came across each other and intersected on occasion,” he said. “I always had a very high regard for him.”
However, Cole hesitated to say whether Bourdain may have deliberately chosen his label because of their shared political views.
“I like to think that there was a kinship,” he said. “We were both kind of frustrated activists in our own right.”
Also Read: A biopic Bourdain would have hated: First trailer for Tony draws sharp criticism
The jacket wasn’t necessarily distressed
Contrary to an earlier GQ report, Cole said the jacket was not necessarily pre-distressed. Much of its worn-in appearance, he suggested, likely came from Bourdain wearing it extensively while travelling around the world for No Reservations.
“The jacket wore better than the designer did for that period of time,” Cole joked. “I love when somebody just makes it their own, and it looks lived in.”
The original jacket was later sold for thousands at an auction. Cole said the renewed interest was “very flattering”, while acknowledging that its appeal may have as much to do with Bourdain himself as with the design.
A Bourdain jacket revival
Kenneth Cole plans to relaunch in Europe soon and return to leather outerwear this autumn after years of focusing more heavily on technical fabrics, wool and nylon.
Asked whether Bourdain’s jacket would be part of that revival, Cole confirmed that it was being discussed.
“We will bring back Bourdain’s jacket… or a version of it, yes, we’re working on it. We’re having that conversation right now,” he said, crediting British GQ with helping spark the revival.
The designer added that specific details of the re-release remain “top secret.”
(Edited by Maryam Hassan)