How many new jackets do you have coming (and how many potential ones)?

[JMax]

Thanks @JMax ! Jacket is bad ass and fits perfectly, love it!
View attachment 194364
View attachment 194365

perfect! Glad you like it. It looks spot on.

 

[ton312]

perfect! Glad you like it. It looks spot on.

I wish they’d put the gussets on their truckers. They function really well. Really solid piece. Goes into the IH vault. Which is growing at an alarming rate! Thanks again brother. Absolutely love it.

 

[JMax]

I wish they’d put the gussets on their truckers. They function really well. Really solid piece. Goes into the IH vault. Which is growing at an alarming rate! Thanks again brother. Absolutely love it.

no problem, I am stoked it worked out this well. I agree, the gussets on this thing work and look spectacular. Better executed than many of the leather jackets I have seen and/or worn. Enjoy it my man.

 

[barnabus]

It arrived today. Proper pictures in a day or two but I'm very pleased - the fit seems to be spot on.

British style cross zip, hefty cow, super chunky ykk zips, no maker's label.

I might give this its own thread and see what I can find out about it.

Oh also, sleeve zips are on top of the cuff, which I really like and haven't seen much on this style of jacket before.

I'll definitely do a thread for this jacket I think. I've put it through the wash today and the results are terrific.

I'm in two minds whether to re-dye it black before I give it a treatment, or just blast it with the Renapur and bash on. It has some areas of hefty wear and I like the idea of renewing it a bit - but I'm lazy!

Here's a quick moody hanger pic after the wash:

 

[Powerband]

Thanks @JMax ! Jacket is bad ass and fits perfectly, love it!
View attachment 194364
View attachment 194365

Is this the superblack non-fade rider’s jacket? If so, it looks brilliant! Great fit on you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ton312]

Is this the superblack non-fade rider’s jacket? If so, it looks brilliant! Great fit on you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It is indeed!

 

[red devil]

 

[ton312]

Whoa!!! What is that? Navy blue bison!??

 

[red devil]

Whoa!!! What is that? Navy blue bison!??

Navy Deerskin

 

[JMax]

Utterly speechless. No idea what to say. So nice. That dark blue sucks you in, so nice.

 

[red devil]

Utterly speechless. No idea what to say. So nice. That dark blue sucks you in, so nice.

Always thought it would look in blue! The LW J24 is such a striking jacket

 

[JMax]

Always thought it would look in blue! The LW J24 is such a striking jacket

You nailed this one. Better than the blue leathertogs even. This blue with the jewels perfectly pops. Its like being on the ocean under a cloudless sky. It’s awesome.

 

[handymike]

Totally stunning!

 

[Mysteryo]

Utterly speechless. No idea what to say. So nice. That dark blue sucks you in, so nice.

Mama mia ! Superbe!

 

[JMax]

Mama mia ! Superbe!

my feelings exactly!!

 

[El Marro]

Oh wow red devil!
It’s been a while since you’ve dropped something serious like this on us, but you did not disappoint!
That jacket is a masterpiece.

 

[kazuma]

What's the lining used in this. It looks nice. I love the choice of deerskin, it looks fantastic!

 

[red devil]

Oh wow red devil!
It’s been a while since you’ve dropped something serious like this on us, but you did not disappoint!
That jacket is a masterpiece.

Thanks

What's the lining used in this. It looks nice. I love the choice of deerskin, it looks fantastic!

It's satin

 

[Edward]

Wow, really awesome! For a moment I thought it's a new LL. Always wanted to see more of a 59'er. How come this jacket fits SO much better than the HWM? Fantastic cut, super cool details. Now I want one.

According to Aero’s website, the 59’er is shorter than their standard highwayman and has more taper towards the hem. I’ve been surprised at how little I found on it when researching, only managed to find one other TFL member that have posted fit pics of a 59’er.

When Ken made the first Aero Highwayman in 1983, it was by request from a customer who had an original 50s jacket made by Rivett's of Leytonstone who sold jackets under the Highwayman brand (in the same was as D Lewis Ltd originally sold it's jackets as Aviakit, later 'Aviakit by Lewis Leathers', and all sorts of variations over time). The customer asked Ken to copy the jacket, but with certain tweaks as he wanted a mored american look, the UK fifties revival scene of the time (and, in truth, always, Teds aside) being much more 'American' than British. This meant that what became the first (standard) Aero Highwayman as we know it was a boxier jacket than the original, with wider sleeves, American 'engineer' cuffs, and so on. Fast forward to more recent years, and Ken decided to expand the HWM range (by this point comprised of the standard HWM, the occasional zip-sleeve version, and the Premier HWM, a sort of 'what if' version that takes it cues from the 1930s) by adding a faithful reproduction of the original Rivett's of Leytonstone jacket. This is what we now know as the Aero 59er Highwayman.

There's likely a good reason that the 59er looks os much like a Lewis. Rivett's were Lewis' great rival (they even had rival followings for some time, according to a friend who wore a Rivett's suit back in his Speedway racing days in the 70s and early 80s). Rivetts, notably, were also first to market with this straight zip / shirt-collar style of jacket which became ubiquitous in the rocker / ton-up scene. I've never been able to find out exactly when they started with these, but when I talked to Ken for the Chap piece I did on Aero a couple of years ago, he reckoned they were using the design, if memory serves, from about the mid-fifties. Lewis' Dominator and Corsair models, by comparison, were not released until 1962. At some point Aero bought out Rivett's, and either immediately or later (I've not been able to find this out, so far...) let the Rivett's and Highwayman marks fall out of use, which is why, after that first jacket in 1983, Ken was able to claim ownership of the Highwayman mark (Lewis tried to contest it in the 90s when Derek bought over what by then was long past its glory days and took on a Herculean task, which at time must have seemed positively Sisyphean, in tracking down classic designs and remaking all the patterns from scratch, rebuilding Lewis as a heritage brand, but by that point Aero had a long and legitimate record of usage and now own 'Highwayman' as a TM). In any case, whether it was during or before their ownership, Lewis had by 1962 observed the popularity of the straight zip / shirt-collar design on the British motorcycle scene, and got in there. I suspect that Aviakit ran both brands against each other at some pointg in the sixties, given just how similar the two ranges were; Lerwis copied Highwayman on these jacket, but I've also seen plenty of Highwayman branded jackets that were a dead ringer for iconic Lewis styles like the Lewis Lightning (debuted in 1958).

I’m really happy with how this turned out. Was a bit of a longer wait due to the pattern mods. The base is an hooch hauler but with lapels, cuffs and pockets arrangement like in the ruff’n’ready. For the leather I opted for the “reworked” seal jerky. It’s quite comfortable right out of the box and I find it maybe a bit thicker than Vicenza but less rigid if that makes sense.

Very nice. What is the "rough n ready"? Is it a new Aero I missed, or one of the Insurrection/Thurston exclusives?

The Aero x Levi’s jacket had a great collar. I heard they are thinking of bringing it back as part of their regular offering. I hope they do.

AFAIK the deal Aero did with Levis was that once the contracted runs were done, Aero would assume ownership of the design... This is definitely the case with the Speedster, so it would make sense if that was the deal with the others.... which makes it more likely they could be revived...

Wested distressed cowhide Indiana Jones incoming.

I'll be interested to see that...which model did you go for? I have a goat Raiders, but I've got a hankering for one in maybe one of the other hides, *possibly*, for practical purposes, the Last Crusade model with the bigger pockets (they enlarged them on the jackets Ford wore in the third film so that the Grail Diary could fit).

618!

Be interested to see what you make of this one. Mine is definitely boxier than more 'period correct' jackets, though that does help with layering and it's a nice jacket all the same. I very much like the shorter body-length than many versions of this style - imo, it's a design that an extra three inches can totally kill the proportions on.

on-topic tho, I'm hoping to pick up a cheap goat G1 soon. I got a lesco beater recently but it fits so badly I don't even wanna use it as a beater

I've seen these in person, looked okay for current-issue based design...

https://www.silvermans.co.uk/collec...leather-flight-jkt-mk2?variant=19083900715062

Not tried one on, though. Bound to be well cheap if you're buying in US dollars...

I was weak...

Schott 621, these were made in 84 & 87 and then another run in 97, not sure yet when this one is from but it looks pretty much unworn.

Very nice. I'd have guessed Cal Leathers - didn't know Schott ewver did one like this. One of the Japanese market limited editions?

Sigh!

This is in the post to me at the moment.

Of course it's the perfect jacket for while I've got no motorcycle and several of my important bones are in bits anyway - but it looked just right, and the price was a genuine steal, and one day I'll be healed and back on another bike, right?

And anyway, I'll just dress it up with some chinos and a shirt and tie in the meantime.

Very nice.

It arrived today. Proper pictures in a day or two but I'm very pleased - the fit seems to be spot on.

British style cross zip, hefty cow, super chunky ykk zips, no maker's label.

I might give this its own thread and see what I can find out about it.

Oh also, sleeve zips are on top of the cuff, which I really like and haven't seen much on this style of jacket before.

This isa very typical of the sort of jackets I remember bikers wearing in the UK and Ireland, from the late 70sish (1978 was when Lewis introduced the Super Monza) really right up until the early-mid nineties when something much mored padded started to take over.

The big, chunky zips definitely put it in the late-seventies / turn of the eighties and onwards camp to my eye. Could be one of many different brands from that period - Wolf, TT Leathers, there was an almost endless list, most of them pretty decent too. Sadly, the British leather bike jacket industry largely died out about fifteen years after the demise of the British motorcycle industry itself.... The perfect jacket to wear with a 1970-mid eighties Japanese Honda or Suzuki, bikes that paid tribute to the style of the British bikes they helped kill off...

More 21oz Denim en route

I blow hot and cold over cafe racers, but I rather like that black denim one.

 

[Monitor]

There's likely a good reason that the 59er looks os much like a Lewis. Rivett's were Lewis' great rival (they even had rival followings for some time, according to a friend who wore a Rivett's suit back in his Speedway racing days in the 70s and early 80s). Rivetts, notably, were also first to market with this straight zip / shirt-collar style of jacket which became ubiquitous in the rocker / ton-up scene. I've never been able to find out exactly when they started with these, but when I talked to Ken for the Chap piece I did on Aero a couple of years ago, he reckoned they were using the design, if memory serves, from about the mid-fifties. Lewis' Dominator and Corsair models, by comparison, were not released until 1962. At some point Aero bought out Rivett's, and either immediately or later (I've not been able to find this out, so far...) let the Rivett's and Highwayman marks fall out of use, which is why, after that first jacket in 1983, Ken was able to claim ownership of the Highwayman mark (Lewis tried to contest it in the 90s when Derek bought over what by then was long past its glory days and took on a Herculean task, which at time must have seemed positively Sisyphean, in tracking down classic designs and remaking all the patterns from scratch, rebuilding Lewis as a heritage brand, but by that point Aero had a long and legitimate record of usage and now own 'Highwayman' as a TM). In any case, whether it was during or before their ownership, Lewis had by 1962 observed the popularity of the straight zip / shirt-collar design on the British motorcycle scene, and got in there. I suspect that Aviakit ran both brands against each other at some pointg in the sixties, given just how similar the two ranges were; Lerwis copied Highwayman on these jacket, but I've also seen plenty of Highwayman branded jackets that were a dead ringer for iconic Lewis styles like the Lewis Lightning (debuted in 1958).

I didn't know the story behind the Highwayman brand. Interesting! Always wondered how come Aero's allowed to used the label & the logo. Figured they were allowed to do so by default once the company disappeared but hadn't a clue Aero acquired it. Cool stuff.

But yeah, it is unreal what Derek did with Lewis Leathers. Raising the company from the dead is one thing but making it equally revered by heritage clothing enthusiasts, bikers and people who are into high fashion is absolutely amazing.

Be interested to see what you make of this one. Mine is definitely boxier than more 'period correct' jackets, though that does help with layering and it's a nice jacket all the same. I very much like the shorter body-length than many versions of this style - imo, it's a design that an extra three inches can totally kill the proportions on.

Interesting jacket this one is. For a sz. 42 - which I would have guessed would have been too large for me, judging by my experience with just about every Schott Perfecto so far - it fits surprisingly slim and very, very short in the body. It's exactly like the 613 that I've briefly had. Very Rock'n'Roll in every way.
Leather is light-ish weight but it's very nice. Lots of character, grain, that sorta thing and uncharacteristically for a newer Schott, it's overdyed. The leather is actually brown under the top coat. I'm hoping the finish will gradually start fading, showing the variance in tones we all want on our jackets.
In any case, I really, really like this one. Feels good to have a Perfecto again. I think I'm gonna keep it.