Horween Chromexel Steer not dyed all the way through

[Highwaymanman]

I don't think you got a lemon. Lots of folks like a jacket that wears quickly. Some people even pay more for a pre-aged jacket! i realize that might not be you and you might want or expect different. One of my favorite ever Aeros posted on here was one that had whitened significantly over time. It was an absolute corker of a jacket.

 

[Sloan1874]

I think it's a case of customer expectation being at odds with what the market demands. Horween can control the 'fastness' of the top coat, but they basically work to what the makers say is wanted by their customer base.

 

[sshack]

I'm obviously biased, but clearly there is a lack of consistency among the leather dyes/top coat/color fading. Green stated that he had two black FQHH purchased this summer and one is showing wear and one isn't. This has nothing to do with unrealistic customer expectation. It has to deal with a lack of consistency in the leather. I suspect there was a weird batch of recent leather-- my older samples and Green's older jackets do not exhibit this color fade.

Nor do I think Green's concerns (which are basically my concerns, lol) should be dismissed because some people prefer a jacket that has immediate color fading. True, some people pay more for this "effect." I personally think premature aging is a gimmick and should be left to mall jackets. Who's right? No one and everyone.

 

[ButteMT61]

I had a Vanson that looked like that for riding. Looked incredible. Dunno, guess there's firmly two camps here.

 

[tropicalbob]

Funny how the very thing that some people love about the jackets is something that others find objectionable. At dinner last night one of my son's friends remarked on what a beautiful job the makers of my jacket had done with the distressing. My wife quipped that I was the distressing one.

 

[sewer election]

It would make for an interesting project to have one of these jackets resprayed/overdyed after they've started to turn khaki in heavy wear areas.

 

[Seb Lucas]

That's a lot of wear very soon, Green. And Aero's don't tend to show wear with so little use. You do wonder what it will look like in a couple of years. Opinion will fall into two camps on this as Butte says. I'm not sure if I would be happy with that myself but would need to see in person.

 

[Plumbline]

If that's a jacket from THIS summer then that's NOT normal wear for a CXL jacket ( and I've owned a fair few) looking at the zip facings and cuff it looks 20 years old never mind 6 months old.

I have a CXL half belt from Aero which is 9 years old and shows NO significant fading just very little on high wear areas ( shoulder seam, zip facings)

I've NEVER seen that amount of wear on Horween CXL in such a short period .. It's almost like the dye hasn't cured / fixed properly and is just rubbing off ????????

 

[Don Tomaso]

To me this also looks way too much fading for such a young jacket. @Carrie: Just from my experience in customer service: If the customer insists something is wrong, it doesn't help to say it's ok if, in fact, it only is just sohoooo...

 

[Capesofwrath]

Like others above I wonder if the makers are specifying easy to age leather now. I've also got older CX jackets, and a black ten year old one is only showing the brown base in a couple of places where it's been scuffed. I like that effect in moderation but I wouldn't want a new jacket to show it in lots of areas after a few months.

I've also received some CX swatches from a couple of makers in the last few months and it seems to me that the top dye is a lot easier to rub off than in my jackets of just a couple of years ago.

 

[Don Tomaso]

Well, I guess it's simply cheaper this way, and faster to make, too.

 

[Capesofwrath]

Well I wouldn't have thought so. It would just be a lighter hand applied top coat I imagine so it came off easier. But I'm only speculating that this is what's happening.

 

[tropicalbob]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Lost Worlds. When I've seen photos of their jackets on the bay, they show very little evidence of fading.

 

[sshack]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Lost Worlds. When I've seen photos of their jackets on the bay, they show very little evidence of fading.

Agreed. I recently bought a Lost Worlds jacket in FQHH for my dad. It was several years old and still was stiff and couldn't find a scratch. But it's a different type of finish-- the top coat/dye... whatever you want to call it, was much thicker.

 

[Greenbird]

If that's a jacket from THIS summer then that's NOT normal wear for a CXL jacket ( and I've owned a fair few) looking at the zip facings and cuff it looks 20 years old never mind 6 months old.

I have a CXL half belt from Aero which is 9 years old and shows NO significant fading just very little on high wear areas ( shoulder seam, zip facings)

I've NEVER seen that amount of wear on Horween CXL in such a short period .. It's almost like the dye hasn't cured / fixed properly and is just rubbing off ????????

And this jacket had very light wear and usage. I wore it to work, 15 minute commute each way in my car, for about a month before it became undeniable (I was in denial myself for a while) that there was something wrong and I stopped wearing it.

Ken Calder emailed today and asked me to return the jacket via Thurston for evaluation. I will post when Aero tells me what they think.

 

[tpschar]

First time poster. I have an Aero jacket on order. Not wanting to fuel the fire, but here are pics of a Cordovan swatch I rubbed up for literally less than one minute on one side (with my fingers, and a bit with the swatch folded over and rubbed against itself). You can see the huge difference in color, as well as the grain that popped out almost immediately. I was assuming there was something different about the swatch, that a finished jacket would not do this....am I wrong?

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/b6jqow06v03qdk3/2guMWa4hPn

 

[handymike]

This whole thing sounds like a Horween quality control issue, and a bad batch of CXL.

 

[tonypaj]

To me it sounds like leather jackets...

 

[HighandDry]

And this jacket had very light wear and usage. I wore it to work, 15 minute commute each way in my car, for about a month before it became undeniable (I was in denial myself for a while) that there was something wrong and I stopped wearing it.

Ken Calder emailed today and asked me to return the jacket via Thurston for evaluation. I will post when Aero tells me what they think.

Looks pretty normal to me.

All my Aero CXL's have aged the way your jacket has. I personally love the way it ages, but I can understand if you don't.

If it makes any difference, the fading will lessen quite a bit after the initial rubbing off.

 

[Cyber Lip]

Just for reference, comparatively, how did quickly vintage black jackets age back in the day when they were new?