They say you should invest in those things you’ll get the most wear out of. The best shirts you can afford. The plain, navy blazer that goes with everything. Consider the cost-per-wear ratio, you’re told. Don’t part with any cash unless you can picture six outfits any new piece works in. And your coat, your biggest purchase of any season, should be sober enough to work with your entire wardrobe.

Seems Gucci‘s Alessandro Michele hasn’t been listening. Nor has Haider Ackermann. Or Riccardo Tisci. Or J.W. Anderson. Or, frankly, any designer that matters. This season, outerwear took off its glasses, shook out its hair and went wild. There were fur trims. There were mother-wouldn’t-approve patterns. There was enough embroidery to make your bank manager choke.

Sensible? Of course not. But beneath the crazy, there was oodles of that quality fashion so often ignores: fun. Which is why this season, you should bend everything else to work with your coat.

On The Runway

Where SS16’s sukajan (AKA souvenir jacket) led, the statement coat has followed. Perhaps it’s because our modern climate negates the need for weatherproofing. Perhaps it’s because Instagram likes are fashion’s new currency. But AW16’s outerwear forwent the practical and begged to be noticed.

At Dries Van Noten, coats came in paisley prints with detachable fur collars and military brocade. Joe and Charlie Casely-Hayford daubed their overcoats in magic eye patterns, while patchwork bombers dragged across the floor (not the most practical move for puddles, admittedly). And at Louis Vuitton, Kim Jones even took the goes-with-everything trench and made it a talking point, with blue-on-white marbling and fur belts.

“It’s a trend you have to take control of,” says Lucas Steuperaert, from Vestiaire Collective’s menswear curation team. Jones accessorised his with logoed-up bags, of course, but the most important pair to a statement coat is confidence. When you wear an almost comically oversized puffa jacket, like those seen at Raf Simons, people will stare. They’ll take photos. And the less you seem to notice, the more positive the hashtags will be.