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J.Crew is celebrating 40 years of its signature Barn Jacket with a sprawling new campaign featuring everyone from Spike Lee and Bowen Yang to Amandla Stenberg, Dave Franco, Chance the Rapper and Scottie Pippen.
Unveiled Tuesday, the campaign brings together 160 people photographed across New York City, Los Angeles, Austin, Boston and Chicago, marking what J.Crew calls its most ambitious portrait project to date. The lineup spans actors, musicians, athletes, designers, artists and local personalities, with Jenny Slate, Hari Nef, Vince Staples, Ryan Beatty, Owen Thiele, Aly Raisman and Chloe East also among the familiar faces modeling the brand staple.
Photographer Robert Nethery shot the cast in a stripped-down portrait style, with each subject putting their own spin on the Barn Jacket. Accompanying films bring members of the group together to discuss personal style, their respective cities and the jacket’s staying power.
“The scale of this campaign is extraordinary, but its power comes from the individuality within it,” J.Crew chief marketing officer Julia Collier said in a statement. “We brought together 160 people across five cities to show how one iconic piece can take on an entirely different life through every person who wears it.”
First introduced by J.Crew in 1986, the Barn Jacket has become one of the retailer’s most recognizable pieces, borrowing from traditional workwear with its boxy silhouette, utility-minded construction and easy layering appeal.
For its anniversary, J.Crew is also introducing a new 2026 version of the jacket with updated proportions. The wider anniversary collection comprises 29 styles across women’s, men’s and kids offerings, ranging from the familiar cotton canvas construction to new fabrics, finishes and embellished takes.
“The Barn Jacket has always had an ease and utility that make it incredibly versatile,” said Olympia Gayot, J.Crew’s creative director of women’s and kids. “The shape is timeless, but it takes on a completely different personality depending on who is wearing it and how they style it.” Gayot added that the piece can skew “polished, rugged, feminine, oversized, familiar or unexpected,” pointing to that adaptability as a reason it has remained a mainstay in J.Crew’s assortment for four decades.
The Barn Jacket campaign builds on J.Crew’s recent effort to reintroduce archival staples to a new generation. The brand launched its “Next Rollneck Generation” last fall and more recently an updated version of its rollneck sweater fronted by Emma Chamberlain.