Bill Kelso

[Marc mndt]

Wasn't he in the garment industry for ages before launching Thedi? I'd imagine if anyone would know, it's him.

Yep, he started producing jackets in 1979

 

[Aloysius]

Yep, he started producing jackets in 1979

Much like I'm sure someone like Gary Eastman or Ken Lauder knows who is and who is not producing leather jackets in the UK. It would be impossible (given shared suppliers and the like) for one to crop up without being noticed through any of those channels.

 

[Edward]

That was just part of a weird move they did to charge people more for the same thing.
They used to have prices in Euro, they changed the currency to GBP and kept the same prices, meaning a 20% increase in value at the time. I don't think they have anything going on in the UK.

There are rumours that say their jackets are actually made in Pakistan, nothing has ever been confirmed, but no one in Greece knows where they are made.

As Super said, they are a bit of an enigma...

My only direct experience was some years ago, when they first started to make the shift from mid-market, broadly period correct 'house' A2s to specific contracts and pitching in competition with the Aeros, ELCs, et al. The remaining stock house jackets were being sold off at around half the price of a 'good' A2 at the time. Their size charts suggested I was between a 42 and a 44, so I emailed asking about that. The reply was the the effect that they had one "marked as a 40, but fits like a 42", giving it the hard sell, which didn't really answer my question. Between that and the sales tactic they them seemed to adopt on the forums of running down their 'old' hide about how superior their 'new' hide was, I bowed out. I've further been put off them by sales tactics since which openly ran down other makers, created model names that sounded very close to other brands and such. The product I have seen in person was nice, though while it compared favourably to jackets I have owned, it was not what I would have called 'superior', or able to justify the significant upcharge compared to a number of others.

I do recall the prices jumped very significantly either when or not long after the website currency changed, much moreso than simply the difference in currency value cause by changing the Euro sign to pound signs. I expect that was a strategy relating to perceived market value, aiming at direct competition with GoodWear (at the time) and the Japanese brands which are at that price level.

I know that they are indeed sent out from Athens, Greece, at least this where the fella's from VLJ receive them from.

Their owners name though is definitely not Greek.

The owner was, as memory serves, a US expat living in Greece. Originally, the line was promoted as a new brand from a company that had been in the jacket industry for a long time, though the identity of that company was never specified, leading to a one-time theory that it could be Thedi, though both Thedi and BK later denied any prior knowledge of each other.

The 'new UK owner' (though I believe BK has retained the same manager) seems to be something to do with American Classics in Covent Garden, I think? A big announcement was teased at a time, but came to nothing, at least in these parts. The BK manager has made clear since his dislike for TFL for various reasons, so I don't imagine we'll see any direct engagement here again with the brand, though I believe they are still active on Facebook.

 

[marker2037]

I own a Relic Hunter from BK in the striated lamb. It's easily the best smelling jacket I have, which is saying something considering I also have a Thedi buffalo and Field Shinki. Construction-wise, it's perfect. Not a single flaw on the jacket and I can easily compare it to any brand jacket that I own.

I've had the Wingman and Leathertogs from BK high on my list for a while so I plan to eventually nab one of them in time. Obviously the company has a been of mystery surrounding them, but at the end of the day they make quality jackets so that's all that really has to be said.

 

[born113]

Considering my short correspondence with BK, I am almost sure that they do not have production facilities in Europe. And given some of their tales, I guess their production is somewhere in Asia (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines).
I don't know anything about the quality of BK jackets. I was just doing my own primary research.

 

[marker2037]

Considering my short correspondence with BK, I am almost sure that they do not have production facilities in Europe. And given some of their tales, I guess their production is somewhere in Asia (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines).
I don't know anything about the quality of BK jackets. I was just doing my own primary research.

Please do elaborate as claims like these don't help unless you have actual factual evidence.

 

[born113]

Please do elaborate as claims like these don't help unless you have actual factual evidence.

It was only a guess. You can consider this an unfounded subjective opinion. Such an assumption does not even require any knowledge of the leather industry. But I do not want to give more accurate information for such an assumption. Otherwise, I will correct the legend for free to achieve greater believability

 

[Canuck Panda]

Reviving an older thread.

Has any member here ordered from his "Archive Line"? Does the Bill Kelso company actually take apart the vintage to make the pattern or do they repro the vintage style from their own pattern block?

BK archive line has always interested me A LOT, but I can't find one review about his archive line jackets online. Other things I've read raised my spidey senses. Thought I check in this thread again about the archive line jackets again. Thanks.

 

[jonesy86]

Definitely a great collection of photos of old jackets.

 

[handymike]

Some of these photos have been “borrowed” from other sources like Rin Tanaka’s books or Lightning Magazine. Others I figure are part of the BK collection. I think @regius has had an experience with ordering from this line...any input Reg?

 

[Proffset]

Considering my short correspondence with BK, I am almost sure that they do not have production facilities in Europe. And given some of their tales, I guess their production is somewhere in Asia (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Philippines).
I don't know anything about the quality of BK jackets. I was just doing my own primary research.

Every Bill Kelso jacket is shipped from Greece, so you can guess where the jackets are made. I also never had any problems with Andy in correspondence, he was always polite and very helpful, at least in my experience.

I have had mixed experiences with Thedi... I am currently on my second order from Thedi, I have already paid for it, but no one has answered my emails since November 2021. Ok, I'm sure they have a lot to do there, but no answer for more than 3 months... After the last reply from Thedi, I wrote him back because I had a question about the jacket and how long I should expect this time, so that I don't write him again beforehand. I wrote a reminder email every month (an email even from my other email address, I thought maybe I ended up in spam), nevertheless no respond. Has anyone else had such an experience, or perhaps knows what's going on?

@Marc mndt maybe you have an idea, as far as I know from the forum here you have more contact with Thedi.

 

[born113]

Every Bill Kelso jacket is shipped from Greece, so you can guess where the jackets are made. I also never had any problems with Andy in correspondence, he was always polite and very helpful, at least in my experience.

I have had mixed experiences with Thedi... I am currently on my second order from Thedi, I have already paid for it, but no one has answered my emails since November 2021. Ok, I'm sure they have a lot to do there, but no answer for more than 3 months... After the last reply from Thedi, I wrote him back because I had a question about the jacket and how long I should expect this time, so that I don't write him again beforehand. I wrote a reminder email every month (an email even from my other email address, I thought maybe I ended up in spam), nevertheless no respond. Has anyone else had such an experience, or perhaps knows what's going on?

@Marc mndt maybe you have an idea, as far as I know from the forum here you have more contact with Thedi.

Each iPhone is shipped from the USA, but I dare say it's not made in the USA. I didn't rate anyone's courtesy.

And about Thedi. He now answers me almost instantly. True, I did not receive a single answer on the merits. But he sends me different photos

 

[Proffset]

Each iPhone is shipped from the USA, but I dare say it's not made in the USA. I didn't rate anyone's courtesy.

And about Thedi. He now answers me almost instantly. True, I did not receive a single answer on the merits. But he sends me different photos

So I suppose if Bill Kelso was trying to make it appear that the jackets were made in a country with better standards, why in Greece? Italy or another country that stands for better quality would be better suited for such a deception.

To Thedi, so he answers you regularly... It seems he has something against me. Or how should I understand that, as soon as I paid the money for the jacket, he didn't write me back.

 

[born113]

So I suppose if Bill Kelso was trying to make it appear that the jackets were made in a country with better standards, why in Greece? Italy or another country that stands for better quality would be better suited for such a deception.

To Thedi, so he answers you regularly... It seems he has something against me. Or how should I understand that, as soon as I paid the money for the jacket, he didn't write me back.

I don't know Kelso's motivation. And I don't know Thedi’s motivation. But I noticed that all small producers are divided into two types. There are those who answer in essence only before paying for the order, and there are those who answer in essence only after paying for the order.
I haven't paid Thedi yet. And with such inadequate answers, I will not pay.

 

[Proffset]

I don't know Kelso's motivation. And I don't know Thedi’s motivation. But I noticed that all small producers are divided into two types. There are those who answer in essence only before paying for the order, and there are those who answer in essence only after paying for the order.
I haven't paid Thedi yet. And with such inadequate answers, I will not pay.

As I already mentioned, the current order from Thedi is my second and I have to say the first order was also a bit strange. I paid for the jacket on October 3rd, 2020 and received the jacket in August 2021... So I had to wait 11 months , while I read from other people that they waited much less. The jackets speak for themselves, top quality, which is why I decided to order another one from Thedi, but now I don't even get an answer to my emails. So it's getting worse, at least for me. I created a folder in my email address for all correspondence with Thedi, where I saved every incoming and outgoing email from the first jacket until now.

Regarding Bill Kelso, I've read a lot of bad things about Bill Kelso on here, but also some good things from a few, which is why I decided to order from here too and as mentioned, correspondence with Andy has always been polite and he's always been very helpful, but I have to say one thing about the correspondence, it sometimes took a little longer to get an answer, the longest here was 3 weeks.

I have to say that I had the best customer contact with Scott from Langlitz. It never took him more than 2 days to reply to me and always very friendly, helpful and understanding.

 

[born113]

@Pretext360
Just a clarification. Personally, I am not at all interested in the politeness and quick reaction of anyone. Although I myself try to be extremely correct. I'm only interested in the accuracy of the answers to my questions. I can always wait a long time for answers and order fulfillment. But this only applies to those cases when I understand exactly what I'm ordering. That is, I'm just happy about transparent business. And in case the client is taken for an idiot, I pass by.

 

[Proffset]

@Pretext360
Just a clarification. Personally, I am not at all interested in the politeness and quick reaction of anyone. Although I myself try to be extremely correct. I'm only interested in the accuracy of the answers to my questions. I can always wait a long time for answers and order fulfillment. But this only applies to those cases when I understand exactly what I'm ordering. That is, I'm just happy about transparent business. And in case the client is taken for an idiot, I pass by.

Yes, I'm not squeamish about waiting either, I also waited 10 months for my jacket at Goodwear and everything went well. Even at Thedi I waited 11 months for the first jacket, which wasn't so bad either, because my emails were answered, a much earlier date was actually agreed for the first jacket and then I was kept being put off until the jacket was finally ready. You can think what you want about that, I was glad that I got at least an answer. Now I haven't received an answer for more than 3 months and I have to say that I haven't even been given an approximate period of time when I can expect the jacket...
If I don't get an answer by the end of the week, I will open a PayPal case and for me that was it with Thedi jackets!

 

[born113]

If I don't get an answer by the end of the week, I will open a PayPal case and for me that was it with Thedi jackets!

Logically. That's pretty much what I think too.

 

[born113]

@Pretext360
When did you order Goodwear? The term of 10 months is just fantastic, that is, it is very good if it is possible. I will gladly order Goodwear right now then.

 

[Proffset]

@Pretext360
When did you order Goodwear? The term of 10 months is just fantastic, that is, it is very good if it is possible. I will gladly order Goodwear right now then.

I just checked my Goodwear email folder I've waited a little over 11 months not 10 months. I placed my order with Goodwear on August 16, 2020 (10 months waiting time were said there) and I wrote to John after 11 months, whereupon he wrote me that he would finish the jacket over the weekend. I got the jacket shortly afterwards, that was in August 2021. And the jacket was definitely worth the wait.