My interest in rainwear has increased tremendously over the past years. Previously I just looked at what was available in stores around me and maybe one or two brands that came by on social media. But with ordering online becoming much more prevalent, websites being available in multiple languages, and cheap international shipping my horizon was widened significantly. And one of the most versatile brand and online stores out there for rainwear is maybe from a brand you have never heard of: Farmerrain.
Unlike other webstores they have a range of different big brands available, they have their own range of Farmerrain branded gear, and maybe most importantly, there is an active and mind-blowing social media presence promoting their products. So let’s take a closer look at this brand and maybe at the end you will understand why I am planning to get a next purchase from their website.
THE BRAND
Hearing the brand name, Farmerrain, immediately gives the impression of a very small, functional, and mostly boring rainwear brand aimed at the agricultural sector. Think PVC raingear in green, oversized, with extra padding on the knees, and uninteresting to most people. This could not be further from the truth, as they have a fashion range and a workwear range, and even the workwear range has more depth and width you can find in almost any other rainwear brand.
According to their website Farmerrain was established in the early nineties with the aim of producing durable quality workwear. Over time more suppliers and products were added and recently a fashion range was included in the line-up stepping away from the pure workwear focus. And while the brand name “Farmerrain” was a logical choice at the start of this venture, I must say that the strong association the name has with workwear is one of the few negatives I could think off. When buying a fashionable raincoat for regular wear in an urban setting you would not expect a large brand-name like “Farmerrain” being visible on the sleeve, chest, or pocket. A more neutral name for the fashion range could have been a good idea in my view.
THE WEBSITE
Before the release of the fashion range in 2019 also a new website was launched. While the company did send rainwear to outside of Sweden, the website was completely in Swedish with prices quoted in Swedish krona. You had to rely on google translate for understanding the page and hope the staff at Farmerrain could manage your questions about products and shipping.
The new website is clearly focused on a wider target audience. You can switch the language between English, German, and Swedish and prices are in Swedish krona and Euro’s depicted. One of the greatest things about the new website, for me, is the amount of information available. Besides a standard text explaining the product, there are also very informative pictures of the products taken under the same light, with the same model, in the same pose, making it easy to compare different materials, cuts, and colors. As added bonus, almost all products also have a “catwalk” video showing a model doing a standard walk showing the product in the rain.
For me this is extremely valuable information. It would be great if I could simply go to a physical store to feel and try on the raingear but I understand that is not something that will be coming back anytime soon. The second best option is watching detailed pictures and looking at a video showing the movement of the raingear so you get a fair idea of how the material moves, how thick and flexible it would be, and if it would be something I am interested in. Take for example the Guy Cotton X-Trapper raincoat: only after ordering the coat I found out that the yellow material felt completely different, in a positive way, of what I expected. Now if only they could successfully communicate that to prospective customers and it could lead to extra sales.
RANGE OF PRODUCTS
The range of products available has been separated in two categories: workwear and fashion rainwear. But that distinction quickly disappears when you go to the webshop and select a product category. The fashion is actually quite similar to the workwear range regarding materials used, so you can easily just select what you like and don’t worry if it is workwear or fashion wear.
Some of the other brands discussed on this site have a range of rainwear products from jackets and trousers to hats and boots, but none has a range as wide and deep as Farmerrain has. Besides a standard jacket and regular pants, they have southwester hats, rain gloves, waders, long coats, overalls, and even rain jeans. And while some of the products are only available in one color, others are being sold in a whole range of colors – even in the workwear range.
The width of their range of products means you can more easily combine products to come to a complete outfit. You can buy a jacket with matching pants, but also add a southwester rainhat and a pair of raingloves to complete the outfit. And the depth of their range of products means you can even combine different colors to get an outfit that fits you better, as most products are available in a range of colors made out of the same materials. For most other brands I would normally recommend with one color to get to an outfit, while for Farmerrain you might want to consider combining different colors. Combine some yellow pants with a blue coat and put a yellow southwester on to top it off, or combine red and yellow, red and black, yellow and black, etc. Especially by adding a southwester you bind the outfit together and have much more room for experimenting.
Let’s take a look at some of their brand-specific items that really stand out. Almost all rainwear brands have a regular jacket and regular pants, but some of the products Farmerrain has are quite specific for the brand and worth mentioning.
JUMPSUITS
Besides waist pants and bib pants, Farmerrain has jumpsuits which are quite similar to bib pants regarding height but have a different closing mechanism with press buttons.
This closing mechanism requires you to be more careful with what size you order as it gives less room for adjusting the size compared to the closing of bib pants. Upside is a bit of extra protection at your upper back and shoulders. Most people will wear a jumpsuit in combination with a jacket, so the protection part is neglectable, but what is a great feature is the elastic part on the back near the waistband. From experience I can say that wearing bib pants will often not give the most flattering look on the backside, and this simple addition of an elastic part improves the silhouette remarkably.
The jumpsuits also have an elastic band at the bottom to keep the pants in place, something that looks very familiar for anyone who knows the Agu rubberized nylon rainsuits which had a similar feature. Only the jumpsuits made from Opalo material misses this feature.
RETRO LONG RAINCOATS
One of the most eye-catching fashion rainwear items Farmerrain has is the Retro Coat. This coat maybe best resembles the classic long Rukka raincoats that were tremendously popular in the past and which are still very sought after, even though the materials used slightly differs according to the Rukka raincoat fanbase online. The regular long raincoats are available in 5 shiny colors and currently (June 2020) in a limited non-glossy finish.
What is attractive in these retro coats is the overall cut, giving it a distinctive feminine silhouette although the coats are sold as unisex. These raincoats are easy to combine with a pair of rainboots giving full protection. It would be very high on my “wanted” list if only I am currently more focused on an SBR long raincoat.
RAIN JEANS
This is a unique concept coming from Farmerrain that I have not seen any other brand do: rain jeans. Basically this is a pair of jeans with a regular cut made out of rainwear material. One of the reasons rainpants often miss the mark of “fashionable” is the overall bulky cut as you are supposed to wear them over your regular clothes. Especially when adding rainboots there will be a lot of extra material around the top of the boots in case you tug your pants in and it makes you easily gain tens of pounds of bodyweight visually. If only rainpants had a much slimmer cut, it would be more fashionable already. The rainjeans solve this problem by having a regular jeans cut, meaning you can wear these pants as regular pants, although I have my doubts if that would be really comfortable. Most rainwear materials are non-breathable and wearing rainjeans for longer periods of time, especially indoors, might not be the most comfortable. As they seem not to be supposed to be worn over regular jeans, I wonder if people will bring a pair of regular jeans with them to change several times a day. Together with a rather steep price my guess is these pants are made for a smaller subgroup of people and they will not be best-selling items.
PERSONAL FAVORITE
Finally my personal favourite from their webshop: the Cotton jacket and Trousers. This set of a jumpsuit and a jacket in retro material, whatever that might actually mean, is available in a range of colors which makes it interesting for me as it gives opportunities to mix and match with gloves, southwester hats, and other items. Only downside is the price tag which stands at almost 300 euro’s. Apparently the material used are in short supply as it is not produced anymore, resulting in a relatively high price.
Alternatively one could go for the sailor jacket and jumpsuit which costs a combined 168 euro’s and is available in a range of colors, some of which are not available for the cotton jacket and trousers like a deep blue and bright red. And especially red has a special place in my heart since being introduced to a bright red Agu rubberized nylon rainsuit in the past, plus red is easy to combine with black, yellow, and blue.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Instead of posting a ton of pictures of their products here, I rather direct everyone to their social media profiles and website as they have so many beautiful pictures showing the raingear from different sides as well as catwalk videos for anyone interested in how the raingear moves in real-life. Unlike most other brands they seem to have a very active social media presence with modelled pictures, clips, and new product announcements so it is highly recommend to add all their channels to your daily feed. This is something I am missing with other brands: an active social media presence promoting their products. Some fashion brands like Stutterheim and Hunter have very regular updates, but a brand like Ocean, Guy Cotten or 66North barely post anything new in a year. And while it is understandable for non-fashion brands to act that way, as someone interested in their raingear it is disappointing.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
Online I see a lot of people sharing and commenting positively on the pictures and clips Farmerrain is making and sharing, and I would say that if you want to support them you can share, like, or even better, buy some of their products. My guess is that they took some huge risks setting up this company and bringing to life a huge range of rainwear which is competitively priced. Currently I haven’t bought anything from them but as soon as I can decide which product, and which color, I like best I will put in my own order.