Few items of menswear come packaged with just as much attitude, heritage or unfiltered masculinity as a leather jacket. Synonymous with punks and pilots, motorcycles and Marlon Brando, the leather jacket is high-testosterone menswear, but it's also an amazingly versatile classic. No well-edited wardrobe is complete without one.
Men have been wearing hides and skins since our knuckles stopped skimming the floor, but the best leather jacket as we know it today stumbled on prominence in early 1900s. Brown leather flight jackets were worn by the early aviators and the military, most notably the German Air Force in World War I.
The first contemporary-looking style found its way to 1928. A Manhattan raincoat maker, Irving Schott, designed a motorcycle jacket for Harley Davidson. Dubbed the ‘Perfecto,' after his favorite cigar, this leather jacket was built to protect riders from the elements and accidents. During World War II the flight jacket became called the bomber and was prized because of its warmth having been made for wear in open cockpits.
Between then and now, leather jackets have appeared everywhere from in cult flick The Wild One to on the backs of the Sex Pistols. It's standard-issue for mavericks, scoundrels and sex symbols.
Today, the garment is probably be one of the very expensive additions to a wardrobe, so don't be considered a rebel without a clue – make a shrewd purchase. If for no other reason, an excellent leather jacket is one of many few long-term relationships you should have in fashion. They're created to last, age as you do and pair with an increase of items than you may expect. So, if you don't consider Danny Zuko a mode icon, that's fine – you will find other ways to wear it that don't include leather pants.
A brandname favored by everyone from A-list actors to the Pope, Belstaff has been making motorcycle gear considering that the 1920s. While offering different styles of leather jackets, the British brand is perhaps Puffer Jackets best noted for its long, belted styles.
Look for options that have been hand-waxed for an authentic worn-in feel that will make fully sure your jacket only gets better with age. Additionally it is a water-repellent treatment, meaning you shouldn't hesitate to use it in light rain.
Named following the village of Cromford in Derbyshire, the birthplace of the industrial revolution, this brand is a huge specialist in leather, suede and shearling for over 45 years. Predicated on Marylebone's Chiltern Street, it provides bespoke, made-to-measure and an alterations services alongside its own collection, all handmade in London.
Clients include celebrities and wardrobe designers for films, presumably seduced by the brand's superlative crop of leathers, which are hand-picked from small tanneries around Europe.
We know leather jackets are great, but sometimes you need something significantly more than the standard brown or black. Here is the year for expression, so you might not want to be stuck wearing the exact same dark motorcycle jacket everyone (and their dog) has been rocking for the last few decades. And to stick out sometimes, you've to have a little risk – a sky blue or race-car red seems appropriate to us. Additionally it is nice to know the risk won't have any compromise in quality.
If you would like sure-fire protection with a far more expressive style, if it be on a motorcycle or working with harsh season-changing weather, The Jacket Maker's Ionic motorcycle jacket covers your entire bases. Not only will you find those summer-friendly bright blues and reds we fawned over, but they're hand-crafted by master leather workers utilising the best full-grain leather money can buy. Meaning this top pick is preparing to be rotated in your wardrobe year-round (hello, no-brainer investment).
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