Jeez people really get in a lather about Goodwear leather - on both sides.
It's probably useful to separate out various threads of the argument.
I respect John's dedication to the craft but I speak as someone who has no real interest in Goodwear products nor gets excited about 'high end', super-dooper, artisan made jackets. To my taste, Vanson, (for one) does the job of jacket making well enough for me and then some. And I'm not an A2 connoisseur.
Seems to me there are three threads to this.
Thread One: John is put on a pedestal because he does some magnificent work. Extremely well made and patterned reproduction jackets, with enhancements to quality that way exceed the originals. That's fine. This veneration of John's work appears to be empirically based as his work is judged to be as good as or better than the work of other producers of high end jackets by collectors/consumers who care for such things.
Thread Two: It's common for someone with great skills to be treated with reverence, as a kind of god. We see this in sport, music, painting and, apparently in the making of leather jackets. John is a Big Deal in the funny little world of hand made leather jackets. If people seem a little hyperbolic about it all, so what? There's a lot of pointless gushing about things in Fedora Lounge more generally - isn't that the fun of this place?
Thread three. Waiting periods and business model. This part of John's operations sometimes sounds unsustainable but I don't really mind as I am not on the list. People who venerate a particular maker will wait in line for ages and pay a deposit for the privilege. Boutique markets work this way. I've seen it with knife, guitar and violin makers amongst others.
If people want to wait in line for a jacket and pay out some cash for the privilege, who cares? If the business ultimately collapses that's another matter.
I look at John's jackets and think they look pretty good and his A2's when fitted properly look better than most I have seen. And that's just the photos. But ultimately - I think Technovox and his recently sourced vintage HH Vanson Enfield has as well made and elegant a leather jacket as I would ever want to own.
It's probably useful to separate out various threads of the argument.
I respect John's dedication to the craft but I speak as someone who has no real interest in Goodwear products nor gets excited about 'high end', super-dooper, artisan made jackets. To my taste, Vanson, (for one) does the job of jacket making well enough for me and then some. And I'm not an A2 connoisseur.
Seems to me there are three threads to this.
Thread One: John is put on a pedestal because he does some magnificent work. Extremely well made and patterned reproduction jackets, with enhancements to quality that way exceed the originals. That's fine. This veneration of John's work appears to be empirically based as his work is judged to be as good as or better than the work of other producers of high end jackets by collectors/consumers who care for such things.
Thread Two: It's common for someone with great skills to be treated with reverence, as a kind of god. We see this in sport, music, painting and, apparently in the making of leather jackets. John is a Big Deal in the funny little world of hand made leather jackets. If people seem a little hyperbolic about it all, so what? There's a lot of pointless gushing about things in Fedora Lounge more generally - isn't that the fun of this place?
Thread three. Waiting periods and business model. This part of John's operations sometimes sounds unsustainable but I don't really mind as I am not on the list. People who venerate a particular maker will wait in line for ages and pay a deposit for the privilege. Boutique markets work this way. I've seen it with knife, guitar and violin makers amongst others.
If people want to wait in line for a jacket and pay out some cash for the privilege, who cares? If the business ultimately collapses that's another matter.
I look at John's jackets and think they look pretty good and his A2's when fitted properly look better than most I have seen. And that's just the photos. But ultimately - I think Technovox and his recently sourced vintage HH Vanson Enfield has as well made and elegant a leather jacket as I would ever want to own.