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"Oh, to be seaside in the north of France in May! Setting sail from the postcard-perfect port town of Honfleur, traipsing up the hundreds of centuries-old stone steps to the top of Mont Saint-Michel, splashing around in the water \u00E0 la a 1960s-era Brigitte Bardot. The charm of Brittany and Normandy is indisputable. Coco Chanel, Pablo Picasso, and Audrey Hepburn all vacationed here in their day, and flocks of tourists still descend on the storied region each summer. To be here in January, however, when the temperature is well below zero Celsius and the blue sea is dotted with white ice chips, is another story altogether!\n\nThe occasion for my latest fashion adventure is the tr\u00E8s preppy-chic collaboration between all-American Coach and the original marin\u00E9re maker to the stars (see above names), Saint James, which takes its moniker from the small town in France where it has been based since around 1850. Saint James is the godfather to the Breton fisherman&amp;#39;s sweater, though today you are more likely to see its iconic stripes ashore on the likes of Alexa Chung. Coach creative director Reed Krakoff&amp;#39;s French wife is also a fan and is rumored to have inspired the seeds of the Saint James for Coach collaboration.\n\nRegardless of how it came to be, after previewing the collection in New York in the dead of winter and picturing it flying off store shelves come May, I couldn&amp;#39;t resist an expedition to the storied village where it all began.\n\nI enlist model-slash-street-style-star Hanne Gaby Odiele to be my fashion partner in crime. Immediately following the Paris couture shows, we set off in a caravan on the four-hour journey to the factory. It is still in the same town where it was founded, although it relocated to a larger space in the 1970s. The fabrics are made in one part of the building. Another houses pattern-cutters and seamstresses (who\u2014in a dizzying display of brand patriotism\u2014wear striped aprons and sit on striped cushions). Shirts are cut, sewn, folded, and packaged to be sent off to the world from this idyllic workspace. &amp;quot;Nothing has changed in the way the shirts are made, except that the sewing machines are electric now,&amp;quot; Luc Les\u00E9n\u00E9cal, the president of Saint James, tells me. I am amazed that in a day and age where the overwhelming majority of fashion goods are designed in one country and manufactured in another, 100 percent of Saint James&amp;#39;s products are made right here, from start to finish\u2014the Coach collaboration being no exception.\n\nHanne practices her runway walk on a red, white, and blue fabric roll, leaps across sewing tables, and loads up on bateau tops. &amp;quot;My favorite part of modeling is the travel and the free clothes,&amp;quot; she says. Of the Coach collab, she adds: &amp;quot;It&amp;#39;s good for off-time. You can make it downtown or more pulled together. It&amp;#39;s very French!&amp;quot; Indeed it is.\n\nAfter leaving the factory, we set off on a tour of the local attractions\u2014 the Brittany American Cemetery, a beautiful, moving memorial to the more than 4,000 American soldiers who lost their lives there during World War II; Mont Saint-Michel, a rocky tidal island with an eleventhcentury abbey built at its highest point; and Honfleur, where we temporarily hijack a fisherman&amp;#39;s boat (our apologies to the owner of La Lutine) and lunch on moules frites. If it weren&amp;#39;t for the frigid temps and mandatory bundling up\u2014in between photo ops\u2014it would be a perfect getaway. &amp;quot;I&amp;#39;m coming here with my boyfriend this summer,&amp;quot; Hanne declares. Of course, the beauty of the Saint James for Coach collection is that no matter what the destination or time of year, it will transport you to coastal France in spirit. And that, my friends, is priceless."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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