Johnson Leather Jacket

[Astrobrainsurgeon]

Anybody here wants to do a Shinki group buy for your current/next JL project? It should be under 10 dollars a square foot. (Last time I bought from them it worked out to be just under $11/sf shipped, in theory the larger volume could get better first cost to offset the Fedex shipping and import costs). Each hide average about 15 sf and it takes about 3 hides for a medium sized jacket, add a hide for the larger sizes. JL's bring your own leather discount is 150. So for a medium sized jacket this could translate to approx 300 bucks for the leather cost after JL's BYOL discount. I've read here that their Horween upcharge is now 300, so this would be about the same except you get Shinki instead of Horween on your JL jacket.

What do you guys think? Show of hands who wants some Shinki on their JL's?

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I might be interested in this, I don't have a JL or a shinki jacket so this could be two birds one stone!

 

[Jasonindenver]

This waxed leather could be cool, from the description.

Obviously this is Engrish but gives us some idea:

""The Vintage" Horse leather featuring a vintage feel that makes use of the wildness of horse leather.

After dyeing the front side of the horse leather it is finished with wax. Enjoy the wild uneven texture and the vintage look and feel."

No photos of the black, which is what I'd like, but the brown and blue look great.

Oh damn. Never thought I needed a blue leather jacket.

 

[Rugby]

No black hides?
And how about if we wanted to go in for a group purchase of the milan HH? Just asking...

 

[Canuck Panda]

Black hides for sure. Best and safest and most consistent. 1.2mm is the median weight, although with natural material there is always a variance. But a Shinki teacore jacket is in the comparable weight range as the CXL jacket (in actual pounds), about mid 5lbs for my medium sized jackets. The CXL jackets only gets heavy 6 to 7 lbs when it's thicker steer or the very unusual thick FQHH.

I think Milan HH is "odd lots" leather. So some big manufacturer bought the lot (1000 lbs plus of leather), but only used 2/3 of them and the remaining odd lots gets sold through the Horween agents. Anything that is not on the master tannage list would fall into this category. So we would have to wait for the big manufacturers (usually footwear guys or bag guys) to order this custom tannage again and get in on the tail end. Everything from Horween is pretty good. I've never had a Horween tannage I didn't like.

This is what teacore Shinki is all about. Very consistent quality. After just a few wears it will all look like this: (from different makers but same material)

It's proven no need to reinvent the wheel. This type of tannage is also the very one that Horween did not bother doing. I am sure they can but probably not big enough business for them to consider. This stuff is great for jackets but I don't see it in either bags or shoes which I believe is Horween's top business focus.

The Shinki Saga is to be continued...

 

[TheDonEffect]

Great idea and I have a Johnson order I was going to make soon.

However, if we're going to do this, maybe we should go for one of the Shinki horsehides that is not commonly stocked by jacket makers. For instance, one of the chrome- or combination-tanned options.

I hear ya, but frankly iI think it's going to take a certain amount of effort to even get the popular HHs, and I have zero qualms with getting one of the popular black overdye teacore versions. Not everyday we get this option from a place like JL.

Man, I had no plans on buying a jacket this year, but if a JL Shinki opportunity comes a knockin...

 

[Aloysius]

I hear ya, but frankly iI think it's going to take a certain amount of effort to even get the popular HHs, and I have zero qualms with getting one of the popular black overdye teacore versions. Not everyday we get this option from a place like JL.

Man, I had no plans on buying a jacket this year, but if a JL Shinki opportunity comes a knockin...

I don't think the black teacore is a bad leather, but if we could get the "vintage black" for instance that would be a unique opportunity and not cost us any more.

 

[Rugby]

Concur, vintage black would be quite preferable

 

[tuanhng614]

I hear ya, but frankly iI think it's going to take a certain amount of effort to even get the popular HHs, and I have zero qualms with getting one of the popular black overdye teacore versions. Not everyday we get this option from a place like JL.

Man, I had no plans on buying a jacket this year, but if a JL Shinki opportunity comes a knockin...

I would love to join the group buy on Shinki hh and having JL makes a jacket out of it.

Please let me know when this happens.

 

[PeterRocco]

Disclaimer: noob doing a review. I don't normally start threads but I want to highlight the work of Johnson Leathers of San Francisco

hey guys, I would like to share my new JL jacket (it's my 3rd with them). JL is local to me and I'm lucky to be within such a short distance from their shop. I've been treated well and it's always a pleasure doing projects with them. They have been offering more and more options regarding to the hides/hardware/lining they offer so I'm sure they will be getting more business from me in the future.

The jacket is made with their new offering of Masaye HH (a 2.75oz midweight vegetable tanned horse hide out of Germany which used olive leaves with the tanning process with JL adding a sheen once the jacket is made). I don't know if it's full aniline or semi aniline but it is dyed through. I did notice what seems to be blue grayish fibers when I inspected the zipper pulls. The leather itself is soft to the touch. I don't have a lot of experience handling different kinds of Leather but with what I have in my closet i would say it's less stiff than a shinki, definitley won't stand on its own like a cxl, in saying that it feels like a heavyweight goat. It is very easy wearing for sure and just the right weight for my local climate. It's a good windbreaker and it does repel water well when I tried splashing water on it probably because of the added sheen which probably means a light coat of paint? The sheen will eventually fade according to JL so that will be interesting to see over time. What I have on my jacket is a mixed smooth/grainy batch but I see a lot more grainy to be honest which I like, hope more grain pops out when the seen wears off.

Hardware is #5 repro talon in brass
Shell made from cotton lining from Japan (dunno what it's called)
Black satin in the sleeves
Leather strip to bottom sweep to protect liner
Small gauntlet looking design to the outer sleeve (@ton312 inpired)
Zipper sleeves on the inside sleeve panel (loved this from my FL CR jacket)
Interior pocket to left chest
Hidden size tag and made in USA tag
Subtle single point western yoke
Collar is 4" at its widest point

This jacket is probably going to be one of my grab and go jacket, it wears easy and just a simple clean looking black jacket that seems easy to dress up/down.
Maybe I should have added a little bit on the back length but maybe it's because I'm not used to wearing such a short jacket and I hate tucking my shirt too lol

Here you go (pretty overcast so sorry for the bad lighting)

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Just Beautiful. Fits You Perfect!

 

[red devil]

Oh damn. Never thought I needed a blue leather jacket.

Now you do

Blue, green and red are all essential!

I would add purple to that list personally lol

This is what teacore Shinki is all about. Very consistent quality.

Shinki is known to have a big variation in the leather quality in a single batch. I have heard this from more than one professional. This is what I am worried about, if we can be sure to get the good stuff, then it is definitely interesting.

 

[Aloysius]

Shinki is known to have a big variation in the leather quality in a single batch. I have heard this from more than one professional. This is what I am worried about, if we can be sure to get the good stuff, then it is definitely interesting.

Indeed, but the main issue is inconsistent color, from what I understand, so we can sidestep that somewhat with vintage black.

 

[jacketjunkie]

Very interesting leather. Looks great.

I do agree I would want (and even expect) a two-way zipper on a mc jacket of that length. The range of motion on the other hand looks outstanding and it looks like a good fit so I think the lack of side laces does no big harm.

 

[Canuck Panda]

So summer is happening and apparently my Shinki gal is already on her break as her company goes on a two week summer shut down soon…

so not a lot of actions until mid August….

To be continued…

 

[Rugby]

Just a question on process. Do we order the hides, send them to JL and each participant provides them with their particular order?

 

[Canuck Panda]

I was just gonna buy some myself, drop ship them to JL. People interested can work with JL directly and reimburse me for the leather. I think this would be the easiest way for me to facilitate this without too much secretary work on my end. You’ll pay what I paid. For the first round I’ll bring in just for a few jackets, so if no one wants them I can still use them up myself. San Fran locals would have the advantage to check out the hides in person.
but nothing can happen until summer break is over...

 

[Rugby]

Ok thanks. We'll work with JL and hopefully there will be enough hides for a couple of jackets.

 

[MTS]

I'd be interested in this! SImilar to a previous post...No Shinki and no JL yet (have been wanting both bad for a while), so this would be perfect!

 

[Rugby]

I talked to Damon from JL and he said that they have no problem with CanuckPanda drop ship the hides and then taking the individual orders.
For reference he said that a jacket size 50 long would run about $700.00 for labor and the additional material.

 

[MTS]

I talked to Damon from JL and he said that they have no problem with CanuckPanda drop ship the hides and then taking the individual orders.
For reference he said that a jacket size 50 long would run about $700.00 for labor and the additional material.

Man, that sounds like a pretty good deal

 

[Aloysius]

I talked to Damon from JL

How did you do that? They don't reply to email. Should I call?