Anybody heard of Headglide leather?

[Highwaymanman]

Noticed a couple of their jackets on the 'bay and I thought 'Hang on, these are in good nick for old fashioned British bike clobber, it's usually pretty bashed up'.... well, a google search later and I discover that they are a current operation making some nice looking Lewis/Highwayman/Mascot influenced stuff. Further than that I know nothing but I've never seen them mentioned on here but some of it looks just the ticket. What do you guys think?

Last thing, I'm no shill, I really am curious.

http://www.headglide.com/about

 

[tropicalbob]

The site looks interesting, but what exactly are "specially selected premium-grade hides?" I'm always a little leery of sites that dodge the question of the type of leather being used.

 

[strokes1251]

Usually means cowhide or lambskin. Jackets look ok though

 

[Seb Lucas]

Not any patterns that appeal to me. I wonder if they would do minor custom work.

 

[Edward]

They're a new name to me.

Hey..... is this the big, new Bill Kelso rebrand under new UK management we've been promised for so long?? JOKE! JOKE!

Clearly chasing a later period than is of interest to most in the Lounge. Design-wise, a lot of these are very reminscent of the sort of "old" biker jackets from the late sixties / early Seventies I used to see second hand in the UK in the eighties, into the early nineties - especially the coloure ones, selling cheap in charity shops and the like. I have a bit of a soft spot for the green ones, but I can't really see myself actually wearing one. I'd say for the most part they're shooting for the British bike jacket vibe of the Sixties and Seventies - and doing it well, imo. The jacket I do like are the Jet Star (looks like a zip sleeve Higwayman with a mouton collar to me), which I'd argue is more late fifties than Sixties, but... and the Buccaneer. I'd be curious to see one of them in person, but there's certainly not enough to go on as of yet to make a call on whether they are any good. The designs look nice, but fit, quality, finishing... who knows. Interesting market for someone to try and take on, though. If I saw one on a rack, I'd at least give it a look, though personally I'd pass if they are lambskin.

Perusing the website further, they are on Facebook and Twitter. I can't access those here (currently in Beijing where these sites are blocked by the Golden Shield), but might be worth a look. The sense I get from the site is that they are a business who have been around for a while dealing in vintage jackets, and have now started to go into production of their own. Interesting to see this post-war biker market suddenly on the rise among vendors as the A2 market seems to have reached saturation point...

 

[zhz]

Normally, people in China prefer to call that stupid thing as Great Firewall, Golden Shield is so formal and hardly been used apart from official media. There are some interesting vintage store in Beijing by the way.

Back to the topic, those jackets looks good from pics, but I still prefer the black in these style.

They're a new name to me.

Hey..... is this the big, new Bill Kelso rebrand under new UK management we've been promised for so long?? JOKE! JOKE!

Clearly chasing a later period than is of interest to most in the Lounge. Design-wise, a lot of these are very reminscent of the sort of "old" biker jackets from the late sixties / early Seventies I used to see second hand in the UK in the eighties, into the early nineties - especially the coloure ones, selling cheap in charity shops and the like. I have a bit of a soft spot for the green ones, but I can't really see myself actually wearing one. I'd say for the most part they're shooting for the British bike jacket vibe of the Sixties and Seventies - and doing it well, imo. The jacket I do like are the Jet Star (looks like a zip sleeve Higwayman with a mouton collar to me), which I'd argue is more late fifties than Sixties, but... and the Buccaneer. I'd be curious to see one of them in person, but there's certainly not enough to go on as of yet to make a call on whether they are any good. The designs look nice, but fit, quality, finishing... who knows. Interesting market for someone to try and take on, though. If I saw one on a rack, I'd at least give it a look, though personally I'd pass if they are lambskin.

Perusing the website further, they are on Facebook and Twitter. I can't access those here (currently in Beijing where these sites are blocked by the Golden Shield), but might be worth a look. The sense I get from the site is that they are a business who have been around for a while dealing in vintage jackets, and have now started to go into production of their own. Interesting to see this post-war biker market suddenly on the rise among vendors as the A2 market seems to have reached saturation point...

 

[Worf]

LOL.... the site was blocked by my office firewall... First time in a long time...

Worf

 

[Highwaymanman]

Well Worf, any company name that could also function as the name of a brand of personal lubricant will run that risk.

I quite liked the Panther model, or at least I would if it didn't have that ugly squared off collar.

 

[Edward]

Normally, people in China prefer to call that stupid thing as Great Firewall, Golden Shield is so formal and hardly been used apart from official media.

Oh, yes, I'm well familiar with that too. I rather like it's formal name, though - especially when satirising it.

There are some interesting vintage store in Beijing by the way.

Alas I've never found one that wasn't overpriced to my tastes and had anything much in my 'fat laowai' size...

LOL.... the site was blocked by my office firewall... First time in a long time...

Worf

They know jacket porn when they see it!

 

[Meerkat]

Happily having far exceeded their rather limited size range I can resist the attraction of a snow white leather jacket for biking....well apart from the sleeves and back that is....