The Hernan Jacket: The One That Stuck Around

Volcom design doesn’t follow one script. Sometimes it starts with a blank page and total creative freedom; other times, a clear brief. The Hernan came from the second kind: create a cool, affordable jacket that does its job and gets out of the way. The one you throw on to hop on your scooter and head to the park, without a second thought. One that fit right, kept the rain out, held the warmth in. Ten-plus years later, that’s still the whole reason the Hernan is around.

Function Over Everything

Every piece of the Hernan is there because it has to be. The fabric carries a 10K membrane and is finished with a PFC-free Teflon EcoElite™ water-repellent treatment, tested to hold up through at least 10 washes.

« 10K, » if you’re wondering, is a water column rating: how much pressure the fabric takes before it lets water through. 10,000mm is well past showerproof, into real-rain territory.

The hood used to close with a leather drawcord. It got refined into a simpler cord-and-stopper setup: same job, less fuss, cinching down tight against the wind. Volcom detailing runs quietly along the side seams. Inside, a brushed-knit lining traps warmth, raglan sleeves keep the fit loose, and a chin guard stops the zipper from biting when it’s zipped all the way up. Wind flaps behind the closure shut the door on any draft trying to sneak through.

It’s built for the ride to the skatepark, the early morning surf check, the walk to work, the days that don’t ask permission from the weather. The shell runs 65% Repreve® recycled polyester and 35% cotton, and the padding is Repreve® too. The design stays quiet: subtle asymmetrical pockets, minimal branding, heavy-duty rib cuffs that hold their shape wash after wash. It’s the detail nobody notices until it’s the only jacket in the closet that still looks right five years in.

Fitting More People In

The Wernan joined in Fall ’21 as the women’s version: cut closer to the body, shorter at the back, cinched at the waist with an adjustable inner drawcord, with details pulled from military field jackets and its own sleeve silhouette in place of the raglan.

Youth’s version followed in Fall ’22, carrying the same energy and function as the men’s into a smaller size run, with one change: no drawcord, for safety.

Across all three versions of the jacket, the tech kept climbing too, from an initial 5K membrane up to today’s 10K.

Timeless Isn’t an Accident

Staples don’t happen by luck. They happen because they keep showing up, keep working, and never ask to be replaced. The Hernan could’ve chased trends and complicated itself into irrelevance. Instead, it did the harder thing: stayed simple, stayed functional, and let that be enough.

Funny thing is, it ends up on-trend anyway: the relaxed, oversized silhouette everyone’s chasing today was just how this jacket always fit. It didn’t follow the trend. The trend caught up to it.