Besides, a trench coat is an ambiguous symbol. Richard Martin, curator of the costume institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, talked with Camera reporter Halle Shilling this week about trench coats. The garments' name comes from their use by soldiers in World War I trenches, Martin said. But he said the design also signifies 19th-century westerners and those who view themselves as righteous outlaws. The coats are also veritable cocoons, protecting wearers from both the weather and the world.
Trench coats can symbolize the military.
They can symbolize isolation. They can signify bad weather. The act of wearing trench coats is as meaningless as wearing black. Of four students pictured with the story, three wore black and one seems to have a trench coat. None espoused guns, revenge or racism.