Best Inexpensive Custom Leather Jacket Maker

[bluesmandan]

Simmons Bilt looks like they can get to around $700. But i need 23” sleeves, and they only go down to 25” in their drop down order form...


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[Seb Lucas]

Who is good for a custom fit leather jacket under $500? Only one i know of is Wested. Who else could you recommend? Curious how many makers there are in the sub $500 price range!


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The first question to ask is what kind of jacket do you have in mind? Wested doesn't have bike leather or bike jacket patterns, for instance. Magnoli stuff is mainly copies of movie and TV jackets. Once you know what it is you are after it isn't just a question of price, but capacity. Westeds, for instance,are reasonably well made but the lining cotton is very thin and insubstantial.

 

[Cooper A-2]

My little input as a little (artisan) maker from France...
If all made and sourced in EU all components fine/first quality:
Each average sized patterned jacket=
-for one jacket you need approx 4-5m2 hides...one m2 quality hides: 50 Euro= +/-200,—Euro for hides.
Liner 4-5m2: quality cotton or tweed 20,—Euro/m2: +/-100,—Euro liner. Metalware from Europe or Japan +/-50 Euro.
Approx +/-350,—Euro only material costs...
Plus 8 Hours manpower/jacket if handmade...(****)
Plus taxes, shipping, overheads...(*****)
A jacket for less than 500 Euro ( 600,— US$ +/-) made in France and in good quality with fine and first class components is impossible.
My daily life experience...

 

[navetsea]

well ... wine and baguette are more expensive than tea and rice... joking

 

[Cooper A-2]

well ... wine and baguette are more expensive than tea and rice... joking

Fair enough.
Approx. 350 Euro are just for high quality components...Labor tax and profit are ontop of these costs.
Sure one can save costs...where...? in low cost ( low quality...with lots of chemicals...) hides, synthetic fabrics, metalware, ...( uncontroled ) manpower...mass- production. We dont support this mixture.

 

[dudewuttheheck]

Save up for one that is more than $500. Everyone is struggling to think of anything for a reason. All the good ones are more than that.

 

[red devil]

My little input as a little (artisan) maker from France...
If all made and sourced in EU all components fine/first quality:
Each average sized patterned jacket=
-for one jacket you need approx 4-5m2 hides...one m2 quality hides: 50 Euro= +/-200,—Euro for hides.
Liner 4-5m2: quality cotton or tweed 20,—Euro/m2: +/-100,—Euro liner. Metalware from Europe or Japan +/-50 Euro.
Approx +/-350,—Euro only material costs...
Plus 8 Hours manpower/jacket if handmade...(****)
Plus taxes, shipping, overheads...(*****)
A jacket for less than 500 Euro ( 600,— US$ +/-) made in France and in good quality with fine and first class components is impossible.
My daily life experience...

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Edward]

I've seen plenty of very respectable, new leather jackets on the bike scene for less than USD500, but.... never custom, and only very rarely of a true vintage design beyond a narrow range of a few classics. The kind of artisanal work involved in a custom piece - especially if going true custom / bespoke, requiring a specific pattern to be created around the OP as distinct from simply changing the numbers on a stock pattern, Made to Measure style - is simply not going to be available if you want to limit yourself to a European or US manufacturer. As others have noted, OP would be better served either waiting for something 'right' to turn up used, or saving some money. Wested have done some very nice custom work before now, though I don't know if they come quite that low, and I've never seen them do anything very far beyond their existing range in style.

If looking for something with a good classic or vintage style, better to seek out a couple of designs that appeal and then crawl ebay, Aero sales page, et cetera for used examples while saving up towards the new cost. If used turns up before you have saved the price of new, so much the better.

FWIW, if the Aero Original 59er Highwayman in brown would hit the spot, this is likely to be the best deal you'll ever see on one at GBP399 new (not far above USD500 at today's prices): https://www.motolegends.com/jackets/aero-59-highwayman-jacket-brown.html