Eastman - a new direction?

[thor]

Interesting direction but I was also hoping they'd have brought out the US Navy M-444 jacket they said was in development way back last May announced in their blog back then, missed the season nearly now.

+1

 

[GuyLdeB]

I'm interested in opinions on the Barbour Steve McQueen MacGrain jacket that comes complete with rubber reproduction mud on it?

http://www.endclothing.co.uk/barbour-steve-mcqueen-macgrain-jacket.html

No need to even go outside to get the cool look with this item.

 

[havocpaul]

Not seen one myself but be aware that Barbour seem to add these various McQueen jackets to their sale offers quite often so this price on the link is top money and overpriced IMO. In this weather I would rather roll about in the mud outside and let it stick!

 

[Doctor Damage]

"These days" sorry, sorta old hat.

Indeed. I think it's safe to say nothing we're doing is particularly original or rebellious. It's just clothing.

Honestly, I seriously doubt that ELMC can compete with any of those brands mentioned. Unlike military flight jackets, the competition is huge with these sort of vintage biker type of leather-wares. You have to ask yourself why you want a Eastman belt while you can get similar quality ones for half of the price? Jackets are fine, but the belts and wallets, not even made by themselves? Anyway, we shall see it very soon by the end of this week.

It's not uncommon for people to pay very high prices for what are essentially luxury items when the perception of status is in question. Within this subculture of workwear/denim/vintage there are status brands people are paying way too much money for. Basically we're no different from women who pay thousands of dollars for designer handbags..

Excellent posts guys, quite true.

 

[Doctor Damage]

I'm interested in opinions on the Barbour Steve McQueen MacGrain jacket that comes complete with rubber reproduction mud on it?

http://www.endclothing.co.uk/barbour-steve-mcqueen-macgrain-jacket.html

No need to even go outside to get the cool look with this item.

That's possibly the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen and a great example of the worst sort of inward-looking, inside baseball, hipster OCDism. McQueen would have laughed out loud at that jacket (while he was brushing the mud off his coat after a race), then frowned and called his lawyer to sue the sh*t out of Barbour for using his image on something so stupid.

 

[Feraud]

That repro mud spatter is bizarre!

 

[Sloan1874]

Any owner will have to resign themselves to explaining endlessly that 'it's not mud, it's just a finish', and getting some very strange looks in exchange. I've always felt my jackets look best when they have the appearance of standing too close to a puddle. :loco:

 

[Smithy]

It's not uncommon for people to pay very high prices for what are essentially luxury items when the perception of status is in question.
Within this subculture of workwear/denim/vintage there are status brands people are paying way too much money for.
Basically we're no different from women who pay thousands of dollars for designer handbags..

Feraud, you have well and truly hit the nail on the head. Well said :eusa_clap

 

[Stand By]

That's an interesting niche that Gary's pursuing - in tandem with the military gear.
Mind you, when one considers how popular the Sons Of Anarchy series has become in popular culture - and I noticed last year that the Toronto chapter of the Hells Angels are now making t-shirts and selling them to the public from a shop (!), so it seems to me that the masses have a (fleeting?) desire for that M/C Club look too - irregardless of the demand by the true bikers out there who wear the gear with sincerity and practicality and a sense of its heritage - just as we do around here with our flying jackets and gear. So I think it's just marketing for the masses and meeting demand with supply... Good luck to him.

 

[Edward]

The biker in question could be Tom Selleck's son, no?

Unless Tom's become a spokesman for the botox industry.

Sounds like a good plan. The workwear/biker/high-end Japanese repro denim lifestyle thing is growing.

It's a logical diversification f they want to do another market than just the military repro stuff, which I'm sure is much more niche. They're not the first to go this way in the leather niche, either, though intersting they're making it clear that it has its own separate identity.

As long as they don't go down the same path as Avirex (and I suspect that they won't). Once Avirex branched out and got away from their military themed clothing, it was the "kiss of death". They weren't the most accurate repro makers, but they had a thriving business and did have some cool military leather and cloth jackets. Then they went into the urban/hip-hop (youth-oriented?) market and their business went down the drain :-(

I imagine that's subjective... end of the day, they're there to make money, and I suspect there's a lot more of that to be had from the hip hop market... [huh]

Nice tip Edward, the new collection definitely has a Buzz Rickson / Real McCoy vibe to it. I really liked the the engineer boots on the first page, the suede-ed out shearling jacket and the brown highwaymanesque jacket on the last page. I will be looking forward to seeing the full line-up on February 1. ( and the Prices)

It'd certainly be interesting to see somebody in the UK doing these sorts of things, variations on a theme, repros of civilianised military stuff rather than the originals, that sort of thing, in the UK. I imagine it'll be pricey - ELC's own prices have gone upeards in recent years - though they might find a market in the West if they can keep it under the crazy prices a lot of the Japanese stuff fetches here. Wonder if they'll cut back further on similar-style Buzz imports? I've notice in the past they (as the European importer for Buzz) don't seem to bring in Buzz jackets of models they do themselves.

Probably not a silly move by ELC. They're already big in Japan and the whole 50s scene is a big thing there too, so I'd imagine that's the primary market they're aiming for with this.

Rather than a change of direction I think this is probably just Gary opening up a new revenue stream and good luck to them with it. I'd be hugely surprised if they slash the traditional ELC offerings.

Won't be cheap though, but then it doesn't seem like much is these days!

Very true! Yes, it looks to me like a parallel label for a line of stuff that is gonig to be mixed inhouse and outsourced production.

Probably find that the motorcycle clothing market is bigger than the military repros. Problem is with the yen's current exchange rate, they may face stiffer competition than couple of years ago. Take one look at Rakuten and you'll see a Buzz N-1 costing only GBP220 half of what it costs in Buzz Europe. I doubt there is gonna be a 100% postage and import duties. There are of course fans who would only purchase items that are made in UK or USA regardless of the price.

I wish we could get Buzz stuff at that price here!

 

[Stand By]

That's possibly the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen and a great example of the worst sort of inward-looking, inside baseball, hipster OCDism. McQueen would have laughed out loud at that jacket (while he was brushing the mud off his coat after a race), then frowned and called his lawyer to sue the sh*t out of Barbour for using his image on something so stupid.

OMG. That's no different to buying a pair of denim jeans with paint flicked on to them - or "distressed" to the point of fraying and tears. Pretentious crap.
Steve "The King of Cool" McQueen would laugh at the absurdity of it all.

 

[Smithy]

OMG. That's no different to buying a pair of denim jeans with paint flicked on to them - or "distressed" to the point of fraying and tears. Pretentious crap.
Steve "The King of Cool" McQueen would laugh at the absurdity of it all.

It's up there with that "dirty denim" crap that was all the rage a few years back where it looked like the wearer had been rolled in dung. Makes you wonder doesn't it!

 

[GuyLdeB]

I personally can't imagine anyone actually wanting to buy a jacket with rubber mud on it, unless for a Steve McQueen museum I suppose. However, I'm really happy aero, lost worlds, lewis leathers etc still make their jackets as I don't like synthetic materials and love natural materials like leather, cotton and I'm clearly not alone in this. Natural materials wear better, gain a personality and stay nice, getting better with age.

What I have an aversion to is when this perfectly good, brand new hard wearing gear is sold all distressed and factory worn out, like a pair of silly fashion jeans. Then it becomes middle class dress up time IMO.

 

[Otter]

It's up there with that "dirty denim" crap that was all the rage a few years back where it looked like the wearer had been rolled in dung. Makes you wonder doesn't it!

As attributed to PT Barnum: "There's one born every minute"

 

[Stand By]

Or the "denim" that was "faded" white on the backs of the thighs, but to me it just looked like the wearer had sat down on a freshly painted park bench. Yeah, Real cool.

 

[Feraud]

Feraud, you have well and truly hit the nail on the head. Well said :eusa_clap

Thanks. Good to know I make sense once in a while!

That's an interesting niche that Gary's pursuing - in tandem with the military gear.
Mind you, when one considers how popular the Sons Of Anarchy series has become in popular culture - and I noticed last year that the Toronto chapter of the Hells Angels are now making t-shirts and selling them to the public from a shop (!), so it seems to me that the masses have a (fleeting?) desire for that M/C Club look too - irregardless of the demand by the true bikers out there who wear the gear with sincerity and practicality and a sense of its heritage - just as we do around here with our flying jackets and gear. So I think it's just marketing for the masses and meeting demand with supply... Good luck to him.

I still shake my head at how popular culture has embraced the biker/tattoo/punk sub-cultures. Parents giving children mohawks, moms sporting tattoo logos on their purses and clothing, the entire Ed Hardy licensing thing. For pete's sake there are hair dryers decorated with tattoo flash! :eusa_doh:

 

[Capesofwrath]

Clearly never seen real Hells Angels in action. Always best to head off the other way if you did.

 

[thor]

Pre-distressed/ripped jeans. Rubber "mud" splatter. In a world of "instant vintage", where does the rapid distressing/color-losing Horween CXL leather fit in? Or Eastman's Time-worn finish?

 

[Doctor Damage]

Clearly never seen real Hells Angels in action. Always best to head off the other way if you did.

One municipal employee I knew described them as "up to their necks in guns and drugs" which is about right. They should all be in jail and hopefully will be someday. I can't understand why someone would think brutal criminals are cool in any way, but I guess when you're a middle class 20-something living in NYC wearing lumberjack jackets and cordovan Alden boots and getting paid $75k a year to run a social media network for a multinational corporation then you're a safe distance from reality and pretty much anything goes.

Up next from our product development department (i.e. marketing): Replicas of the jackets worn by famous serial murderers! And we're also working a line of jackets we call "Born Free" which will replicate the look worn by mercenaries in Africa in the 1970s!

 

[Blackadder]

I wish we could get Buzz stuff at that price here!

You can always buy from Rakuten. As said, I doubt the import duties and postage will cost 200 quid for one jacket. Hell, for the price of a Buzz in Europe, you can probably get a Real McCoy's from Rakuten which in general is better.