afghan coat: Rock-n-Roll Style

The Afghan coat is a symbol of late 60’s + 70’s bohemian, hippie, rock-n-roll style.

The Afghan coat made its debut appearance onto the London fashion scene in 1966 as the swinging city began to turn its attention towards the Far East and all things of Asian influence. In 1966, a British entrepreneur named Craig Sams visited Afghanistan and took back some Afghan coats. He sold them to a London boutique named Granny Takes A Trip. Granny Takes a Trip (Granny’s) was a boutique in the 60ties through mid 70ties, founded by Nigel Weymouth and his girlfriend Sheila Cohen.

One day, a band named The Beatles visited the shop and emerged wearing the coats - setting off a worldwide trend that continued through the 70’s. The coats became SO popular that rockers David Bowie and Eric Burdon wore them on their wedding day. Hendrix and Jane Birkin wore it in a photo shoot. So many other models, musicians, actors and artists have worn it since. The coats have been frequently featured on the pages of Vogue and copied by designers around the world.

The original coats are from the Ghazni province which is situated between Kabul and Kandahar, were incredibly beautiful, and elaborately decorated with fine silk hand-embroidery by the local artisans. Made from soft lamb or goat skin and embroidered with the finest silk threads in Afghanistan, they were originally for the wealthy and chic, with a new branding known as “hip” but soon crude knock-offs were made and inspired a new generation of embroidered coats.