Johnson Leather Jacket

[TheDonEffect]

A little softer and more pliable than most horsehides that I’ve owned. Creases well and is very easy to wear from the get-go.

Nice! Post more pics!

 

[SlimJim]

I received my first Johnson leathers jacket today. It fits like a glove. I wanted a snug fitting cafe racer and now i have one! Customer service and workmanship on the jacket is second to none.

Compared to Aero BR's Vicenza, Masaye is more pliable from new. But I do prefer the stiffness and dry texture of Vicenza. Masaye feels almost moist. Maybe it will change as it gets old.
The fitting process of Johnson leathers was better for me than with Thurston Bros. I am skinny and there is no jacket that will fit me out of the box.
Here are some photos.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Nice!

 

[Pandemic]

That’s an interesting pocket angle.

great to see JL nail the J100 design. Looks fantastic and the fit is perfect.

 

[Jin431]

I received my first Johnson leathers jacket today. It fits like a glove. I wanted a snug fitting cafe racer and now i have one! Customer service and workmanship on the jacket is second to none.

Compared to Aero BR's Vicenza, Masaye is more pliable from new. But I do prefer the stiffness and dry texture of Vicenza. Masaye feels almost moist. Maybe it will change as it gets old.
The fitting process of Johnson leathers was better for me than with Thurston Bros. I am skinny and there is no jacket that will fit me out of the box.
Here are some photos.

View attachment 395367

View attachment 395370 View attachment 395371

View attachment 395366

View attachment 395368

View attachment 395369

View attachment 395372

looks great, congrats on your new JL jacket. please watch out for the weather, the Masaye is prone to shrinking if it gets soaked with water.

 

[Cornelius]

looks great, congrats on your new JL jacket. please watch out for the weather, the Masaye is prone to shrinking if it gets soaked with water.

Yikes! Good to know about the Masaye leather, thanks.

 

[Jin431]

Yikes! Good to know about the Masaye leather, thanks.

if JL pre soaks the leather then that might prevent that from happening

 

[Hh121]

Or JL can advertise as "our special tanned shrink to fit horsehide"

 

[SlimJim]

tighter the better. lol

 

[Jin431]

tighter the better. lol

it holds up well as far as width goes, it's the length that gets affected.

 

[Canuck Panda]

In the orders of thickness of the hides (thin to thick)

Standard Shinki Brick/Mid Brown Horsehide (3oz) two tone, aka Bullseye, aka TickBite, aka 009, aka my DIY deadleaf (soon).
The tickbite and the branding were intentional. My Shinki source Hashimoto also questioned about my choice, but here it is. It actually took more than the usual square footage to showcase the scars. But I thought they deserve some spot light too.

Chrome tanned Merino Sheepskin (4.5oz), aka soon to be coffee stained, aka I was inspired by an old Latte Langlitz.
Sheepskin doesn't get much love. This reflects in the cost, less than half to one third of what Shinki/Badalassi/Horween cost. Is the lowly sheep less than the horses or cows? Not to me. Some parts of this hide will measure more than 6oz thick. And in green it looks like a Godzilla's baby cousins.

Horween's Bison (5oz), aka Horween seconds, aka mystery tannage.
Horween seconds sold at Maverick leather cost less than half what they cost through the regular retail channel. I cannot tell the difference. The quantity of supply is not consistent. I believe these are basically ends of runs to custom orders that the customer didn't want to pay for. Sometimes it's just one single hide which is not enough for a jacket. But I waited long enough for larger quantity to show up. Super bargain.

 

[Canuck Panda]

The last stop of this leather journey
Badalassi Vachetta Box Minerva (5.5oz), aka the most expensive cowhide. It cost slightly more than Shinki and almost triple my most budget hides. It's good, but not three times good.

This concludes my leather journey from deer to cow to horse to sheep to bison back to cow. I really appreciate Johnson Leathers for doing these for me. The M500 pattern is one of the top 3 most comfortable jackets I have. Period. The other two wouldn't be able to do this for me on this scale. One is just too expensive for me to do 6 jackets with and the other is still not open for business.
There were delays, by about 2 months and the one week it takes to get them here. But overall, the wait was worth it in the end, almost there. One more week.
More pics coming when I get the jackets...

 

[Mrfrown]

@Canuck Panda what a wild ride. I feel like its too much for me to take in all at once. The culmination of a such a long process from sourcing to production. The single front cargo pocket is very cool, along with the 2 slant as you did on your first M500. Really looking forward to the fit pics and more detail. Early congratulations are in order! Cheers man!

 

[Hh121]

Hardcore! Too bad the branding is not 007.

 

[TheDonEffect]

The M500 pattern is one of the top 3 most comfortable jackets I have. Period.

Based on what research and data? I don't think you have enough evidence to support your statement. Lol, jk. Crazy jackets!

 

[Canuck Panda]

@Canuck Panda what a wild ride. I feel like its too much for me to take in all at once. The culmination of a such a long process from sourcing to production. The single front cargo pocket is very cool, along with the 2 slant as you did on your first M500. Really looking forward to the fit pics and more detail. Early congratulations are in order! Cheers man!

The whole thing started maybe just over two years ago and just kinda spiral outta control. I had a bunch of saved photos of the European jackets and I used them as inspiration. It was a bit too much for me too when I got Damon's email yesterday. JL offered to pick up the shipping due to the delays. That was very nice of them.

Hardcore! Too bad the branding is not 007.

I found a "500" and this "600" and went with the 600 but inverted. I would totally jump on a 007 if it were available. Come to think of it I should've picked up the 500 and made a Daytona 500 bomber jacket from it.

Based on what research and data? I don't think you have enough evidence to support your statement. Lol, jk. Crazy jackets!

Haha... I think it might be because it's the police jacket that they gotta be comfortable. I will try out different police jackets from other brands down the road, but I assume they would also be in the top spots as far as comfort goes.

 

[Jin431]

@Canuck Panda wow, that JL drop is insane! the colors really pop and leather choice is so varied too. gotta love the padded diamond quilted stitch work they made. Interchangeable fur collars will give you tons of options as far as looks goes! Congrats

 

[red devil]

Wow! What a selection!! Really impressive! Waiting for the fit pics

 

[Hh121]

I just can't get enough of this post, that's 4 jackets made from 5 different hide that came from 4 different animals and all deliveries to you at the same time. I really want to do that sometimes in the future.
The only thing that puzzles me is what's the reason you stick with the same design for all jackets?

 

[Canuck Panda]

@Canuck Panda wow, that JL drop is insane! the colors really pop and leather choice is so varied too. gotta love the padded diamond quilted stitch work they made. Interchangeable fur collars will give you tons of options as far as looks goes! Congrats

The quilt work is all JL. I was quite surprised they are able to do that consistently (from photos) on the thicker hides too. Can't wait to feel them in real life.

Wow! What a selection!! Really impressive! Waiting for the fit pics

Thanks man! Waiting to see your JL projects too!

I just can't get enough of this post, that's 4 jackets made from 5 different hide that came from 4 different animals and all deliveries to you at the same time. I really want to do that sometimes in the future.
The only thing that puzzles me is what's the reason you stick with the same design for all jackets?

It's like saving all the green skittles and eating them all at once. I was so laser focused on leather I had failed to see the bigger picture of getting different styles. Story of my life. Somehow I repeat this OCD behavior still. Sigh.