Aero Blue Label Project

[Guppy]

Aero just announced a "Blue Label Project" sale.

From their facebook page:

"Over the next few weeks we will be working through our Leather store and turning our “batch ends”, sample skins etc into some great and very affordable jackets. A number of jackets have just been listed with more being added each week. Find our more in the Sale section of our site."​

It sounds like they're trying to put a positive spin on what may be a desperate situation for them, to recover from the break in and theft from a few months ago. I looked on the sale page, and even though I'm not currently in the market for anything new, it looks like they had some good jackets at a slightly discounted price. Might be a good time to buy.

On the other hand, this rather badly mismatched Dust Bowl caught my eye. By no means are the rest of the Blue Label Project jackets this bad. I can't imagine anyone actually buying it, even at half that price -- it just makes me feel like Aero are scraping the bottom of the barrel, trying to put out some product right now. I hope I'm wrong. But it's painful to see them cutting quality like this.

 

[Big J]

Oh, I don't know, a couple of years of hard wear and I think it'll have loads of character.

 

[dan_t]

To be fair, they’ve clearly called these jackets out as items that have been constructed from hides that have been in the warehouse for a while and some are from a number of hides - not perfect matches.
Someone else can correct me, but aren’t the ‘blue’ tags also used for apprentice made jackets?
As such, I think these particular items represent great value.
Don’t loose sight of the fact they are still an ‘Areo’ product. That means Denny, Holly or Ken wouldn’t let these out into the wild unless they met the stringent standards we’re all used to.

 

[ProteinNerd]

Not sure I'd pay £450 for that sort of "character" though....thats still a lot of money. Some of the others look fine though and if I were in the market and the measurements fit, I'd be tempted.

 

[rocketeer]

I'd buy it, then maybe spray dye it till the colour was even and wear the hell out of it. Unfortunately I don't need / can't fit in wardrobe, not enough life left in me to beat it up and added to that, it's SOLD

 

[l0fielectronic]

On the other hand, this rather badly mismatched Dust Bowl caught my eye. By no means are the rest of the Blue Label Project jackets this bad. I can't imagine anyone actually buying it, even at half that price -- it just makes me feel like Aero are scraping the bottom of the barrel, trying to put out some product right now. I hope I'm wrong. But it's painful to see them cutting quality like this.

I think it looks an interesting jacket, I quite like some of the contrasting panels but I do think it would've looked better if the front of the body was a symmetrical match, that to me looks a little odd.

If you wanted something a little different I can see why you might be tempted by this. I don't think I'd pay quite as much as they've priced it at, but clearly somebody has.

 

[Peter Bowden]

I think someone is going to be very happy with a cordovan Highwayman that has sold recently.

 

[ton312]

I think it looks an interesting jacket, I quite like some of the contrasting panels but I do think it would've looked better if the front of the body was a symmetrical match, that to me looks a little odd.

If you wanted something a little different I can see why you might be tempted by this. I don't think I'd pay quite as much as they've priced it at, but clearly somebody has.

If I wasn't in the queue already it would've been me! Saw that dust bowl yesterday and really loved it. It's damn near a two tone! I actually thought the mismatched panels on that were kind of brilliant but I can see where some would think otherwise.

 

[Edward]

I rather like it, but that's to personal taste. Quality wise, the only difference with the regular product will be aesthetic. Ken and Denny are very fussy what gets out from the factory.

The Blue Labels were used for the first run of the Apprentice Made jackets, before they got their own Robin Hood labels. They are still used, as ever they were, for one-ofs and factory specials (back of one style, front of another type thing) when they have good bits and pieces needing a 'home'. They put a few half made/ mixed jackets out like this when sorting out after a few years of mismanagement in 2012. As yo the break in, my understanding is that's all water under the bridge by now.

 

[high-maintenance]

I looked at the jacket and I am more than confident that someone will be interested.
If you take a look at some of the Japanese brands such as 'kapital', people go crazy for this type of mismatch / color combination / sort of out of order.

If you're unsure, just google 'kapital japan' and check out their website.
I'll show you some examples...

It definitely is not everyone's cup of tea.
But there's a niche in the market where bizarre things happen...

 

[Guppy]

I'd buy it, then maybe spray dye it till the colour was even and wear the hell out of it. Unfortunately I don't need / can't fit in wardrobe, not enough life left in me to beat it up and added to that, it's SOLD

Ha! It's been a long time since I've been surprised by something.

 

[Guppy]

To be fair, they’ve clearly called these jackets out as items that have been constructed from hides that have been in the warehouse for a while and some are from a number of hides - not perfect matches.
Someone else can correct me, but aren’t the ‘blue’ tags also used for apprentice made jackets?
As such, I think these particular items represent great value.
Don’t loose sight of the fact they are still an ‘Areo’ product. That means Denny, Holly or Ken wouldn’t let these out into the wild unless they met the stringent standards we’re all used to.

Agreed, it's good to see that they're being totally up front about what they're selling. But I still think that these are like factory seconds, that normally they wouldn't put out there. That they are willing to now may signal something about their financial situation. I really hope that I'm wrong about that.

 

[Big J]

@Guppy, I'm mystified as to your attitude about this. In the FB quote you give yourself, Aero clearly explains that they are using up odds and ends of unmatcing leather (of which they must have a huge amount) to make unique jackets, which although they may not be to everyone's taste, there is a market for (since they are selling).

Somehow you've spun this as 'factory seconds', Aero being 'desperate' and having financial difficulties.

It sounds like a hit-job slam-post on your part designed to raise unfair speculation that Aero is about to go under, and deter potential customers from ordering.

Maybe I'm wrong, but you can see how your posts look, can't you? Do you own any Simmons Bilt/Alexander Leathers jackets? Lolz!

 

[Guppy]

@Guppy, I'm mystified as to your attitude about this. In the FB quote you give yourself, Aero clearly explains that they are using up odds and ends of unmatcing leather (of which they must have a huge amount) to make unique jackets, which although they may not be to everyone's taste, there is a market for (since they are selling).

Somehow you've spun this as 'factory seconds', Aero being 'desperate' and having financial difficulties.

It sounds like a hit-job slam-post on your part designed to raise unfair speculation that Aero is about to go under, and deter potential customers from ordering.

Maybe I'm wrong, but you can see how your posts look, can't you? Do you own any Simmons Bilt/Alexander Leathers jackets? Lolz!

Oh, hardly.

I own a bunch of Aero jackets, and I love the brand. I love the quality, and the company has always been top notch.

Currently in my stable:

2 Cafe racers
1 Bootlegger
3 half belts
1 half belt deluxe
1 Wayfarer
1 Highwayman

I've also owned 2 other Highwayman and another Bootlegger.

I am not slamming Aero, but I am concerned about what could have motivated them to make this move. Read between the lines, and it certainly looks to me that they wouldn't have done this if they didn't need to scrape for money.

It's understandable, given that they were robbed of over £100,000 worth of inventory recently. I don't fault them at all for doing what they need to do to stay afloat. But it's sad that they have to do this. They're representing the product honestly, and kudos to them for that. And they've sold trainee jackets under the Blue Label range before. But I haven't seen them using such badly mismatched scraps before.

 

[Big J]

@Guppy, thank you for your kind reply. I'm sorry if I offended you at all. I really don't understand why you seem convinced that this is a sign of financial doom. That seems like a most illogical conclusion to me, and would also mean that Aero is telling lies on their FB page (and we know that since the Will Lauder storse scandal, Aero is unlikely to lie).
Aero must accumulate hundreds (if not thousands) of off-cuts of leather big enough for a couple of panels (but not a whole matching jacket) every year. Multiply that by a couple of years, and that's an immense amount of material taking up storeroom space.
They have two choices;
1. Throw away high quality material at a loss.
2. Make unmatched jackets which they can (and are!) selling at a lower price.

It makes both businesses sense and is environmentally responsible. I'd buy one if they had one in my size.

 

[Big J]

As for the robbery, I don't see it has any connection. I'm sure Aero was insured against theft.

 

[Guppy]

@Guppy, thank you for your kind reply. I'm sorry if I offended you at all. I really don't understand why you seem convinced that this is a sign of financial doom. That seems like a most illogical conclusion to me, and would also mean that Aero is telling lies on their FB page (and we know that since the Will Lauder storse scandal, Aero is unlikely to lie).
Aero must accumulate hundreds (if not thousands) of off-cuts of leather big enough for a couple of panels (but not a whole matching jacket) every year. Multiply that by a couple of years, and that's an immense amount of material taking up storeroom space.
They have two choices;
1. Throw away high quality material at a loss.
2. Make unmatched jackets which they can (and are!) selling at a lower price.

It makes both businesses sense and is environmentally responsible. I'd buy one if they had one in my size.

No worries, I'm not offended.

Yeah, I'm not saying that I know for certain that they're in trouble. I'm just concerned. If they are hurting, then the way they've gone about this sale is the right way: being fully up front about any irregularities or compromises from their highest standards, and putting a distinct label on the product so discerning customers can know.

They could do a lot of things with their scrap material besides making jackets. Gloves, wallets, or other smaller items, if it was just a matter of not wanting to waste the material.

 

[l0fielectronic]

I imagine as they largely make jackets it makes more sense to them to use these materials to make more of those, the items you mention may be smaller in size but they aren't what the company is known and skilled at.

I'm sure I remember them doing something similar to this a year and a half or maybe two year ago on here, so it doesn't seem to me this is anything out of the ordinary and it seems a big jump to go from this your speculations.

 

[Big J]

Great, I'm relieved to hear it.

I think this is all about economies of scale. Aero has off cuts big enough to put together into 15 or so unmatched jackets. Should they cut them up into 150 matched gloves and wallets, when I'm sure they have as many smaller off cuts as they could ever use making wallets and gloves that matched?

I appreciate that since unmatched jackets aren't something you're in to, that you seem mystified by this. But I think that it's a really cool and subtlety individual look that is guaranteed to look so much better with age. It's very individual.

 

[nick123]

I like the mismatch. It'd match my socks!

 

[jacketjunkie]

I don't think the theft caused Aero any financial damage, companies of that size have insurance against theft and even more so if you have a history like Aero has.

I'm curious though whether these more affordable Blue Label sales are going to be a permanent thing to reach out for the part of the market that's currently inhabited by more affordable companies, especially one specific company..