Johnson Leather Jacket

[MadCat]

Thanks. And I can’t thanks you enough for all of your help and idea and insight up to this point.

At the time of ordering, it would have been my first real leather jacket, so I decided to go with the classic design look on the classic black color on the classic Shinki horsehide. It turns out to be fabulous.

I cannot wait to wear it hard and popping those grain out of the Shinki. As I already mentioned, it feels that the hide would be easily broken in after a few wears, and will drape nicely, especially on the back.

Now, I’m more anxious to count down till Christmas, more so than my kids haha!!!

Anymore Shinki left?

 

[Rugby]

Anymore Shinki left?

I was told no. Tried to get on the @Canuck Panda Shinki train, but I was a day late and the whole batch had been promised for. I ended up ordering a Cossack variant design with good 'ol black CXL. It supposed to be in my hands around the 20th of January

 

[Nacho]

Congrats to @tuanhng614 for the new JL purchase. That jacket is dreamy, man. The lining is hella cool!

I've just got back my LVC from JL for some alterations. It needed sleeves shortening and a new lining.

I initially contacted Dena to repair this jacket, but she declined the job. The jacket has the standard American cuffs, but with an extra French seam in the back. Dena told me she couldn't find a work-around on that.

So I contacted Damon instead and he said JL could do it. And they did.

JL managed to take off 3" of cuffs and I can't even tell that the sleeves have been altered. I had a terrible experience with a local leather shop recently where they shortened the sleeves without tapering it. When you cut a sleeve off, the cuff opening will get bigger. So you have to taper the upper sleeves a little to ensure the same sleeve proportion. Otherwise, the whole thing will end up weirdly looking. Not in the case of JL, the sleeves proportion remains the same as before. Amazing workmanship there.

For the lining, I picked the material from a local supplier. I also decided to make this jacket a little more period-correct with the opening of the lining in the middle. And a new inner pocket with leather trimming that matches the jacket's leather. Again, amazing job from JL. I couldn't be happier.

So without further ado, here are a few pictures. Btw, this is the jacket before alterations.

That being said, there are still some minor flaws that I can spot in JL's alteration work. And this is just me nitpicking. If you look at the jacket from afar, it looks quite alright. Beautiful indeed.

(missing a few holes there. There are other spots like this as well.)

(different colour of the bobbin thread although they did match the pattern on the other side as well. still don't get why they did that???)

(the forgot to stitch the cuffs so there are a bunch of holes there now. Not a big deal with me since I've access to a stitcher and I can finish the job myself. I actually measured the distance between that stitch line and the edge from the outside and inside. They aren't the same. So my thinking is that if they do a stitch there, it will catch the satin lining inside. But they can always stitch it first before roll the cuff in with the lining. Don't know what happened there.)

The last minor complaint is the email communication. JL was late with my repair and Damon did email me to inform the situation. I was happy that they did that. But when I emailed them back to ask about the shipping options, no response at all. So email communication seems to be lacking on JL's part. I believe you can get things moving faster if you call them directly. Mind you, I work 5 days a week so sometimes phoning isn't always possible.

Overall, this is my first experience with JL and it was quite good. It wasn't an easy alteration, but they pulled it off nicely. I'd give this a 8.5/10. I don't know much about the making jacket side of things, but it looks like other people are happy with them.

Anyways, hope this will help other members who're looking to do some repairs with JL in the near future.

Cheers,

 

[Marc mndt]

Congrats to @tuanhng614 for the new JL purchase. That jacket is dreamy, man. The lining is hella cool!

I've just got back my LVC from JL for some alterations. It needed sleeves shortening and a new lining.

I initially contacted Dena to repair this jacket, but she declined the last minute after I already sent the jacket all the way to Illinois. The jacket has the standard American cuffs, but with an extra French seam in the back. Dena told me she couldn't find a work-around on that.

So I contacted Damon instead and he said JL could do it. And they did.

JL managed to take off 3" of cuffs and I can't even tell that the sleeves have been altered. I had a terrible experience with a local leather shop recently where they shortened the sleeves without tapering it. When you cut a sleeve off, the cuff opening will get bigger. So you have to taper the upper sleeves a little to ensure the same sleeve proportion. Otherwise, the whole thing will end up weirdly looking. Not in the case of JL, the sleeves proportion remains the same as before. Amazing workmanship there.

For the lining, I picked the material from a local supplier. I also decided to make this jacket a little more period-correct with the opening of the lining in the middle. And a new inner pocket with leather trimming that matches the jacket's leather. Again, amazing job from JL. I couldn't be happier.

So without further ado, here are a few pictures. Btw, this is the jacket before alterations.

View attachment 567639
View attachment 567640
View attachment 567641
View attachment 567642
View attachment 567643

That being said, there are still some minor flaws that I can spot in JL's alteration work. And this is just me nitpicking. If you look at the jacket from afar, it looks quite alright. Beautiful indeed.

View attachment 567644
(missing a few holes there. There are other spots like this as well.)

View attachment 567645
(different colour of the bobbin thread although they did match the pattern on the other side as well. still don't get why they did that???)

View attachment 567646
(the forgot to stitch the cuffs so there are a bunch of holes there now. Not a big deal with me since I've access to a stitcher and I can finish the job myself. I actually measured the distance between that stitch line and the edge from the outside and inside. They aren't the same. So my thinking is that if they do a stitch there, it will catch the satin lining inside. But they can always stitch it first before roll the cuff in with the lining. Don't know what happened there.)

The last minor complaint is the email communication. JL was late with my repair and Damon did email me to inform the situation. I was happy that they did that. But when I emailed them back to ask about the shipping options, no response at all. So email communication seems to be lacking on JL's part. I believe you can get things moving faster if you call them directly. Mind you, I work 5 days a week so sometimes phoning isn't always possible.

Overall, this is my first experience with JL and it was quite good. It wasn't an easy alteration, but they pulled it off nicely. I'd give this a 8.5/10. I don't know much about the making jacket side of things, but it looks like other people are happy with them.

Anyways, hope this will help other members who're looking to do some repairs with JL in the near future.

Cheers,

Wow, what a difference. This lining looks so much better than the original.

 

[Nacho]

Wow, what a difference. This lining looks so much better than the original.

Yessir! It really makes the jacket pop, doesn’t it?

Thanks again for hooking me up with this one, Marc. It’s a quality fashion jacket.

 

[tuanhng614]

Congrats to @tuanhng614 for the new JL purchase. That jacket is dreamy, man. The lining is hella cool!

I've just got back my LVC from JL for some alterations. It needed sleeves shortening and a new lining.

I initially contacted Dena to repair this jacket, but she declined the job. The jacket has the standard American cuffs, but with an extra French seam in the back. Dena told me she couldn't find a work-around on that.

So I contacted Damon instead and he said JL could do it. And they did.

JL managed to take off 3" of cuffs and I can't even tell that the sleeves have been altered. I had a terrible experience with a local leather shop recently where they shortened the sleeves without tapering it. When you cut a sleeve off, the cuff opening will get bigger. So you have to taper the upper sleeves a little to ensure the same sleeve proportion. Otherwise, the whole thing will end up weirdly looking. Not in the case of JL, the sleeves proportion remains the same as before. Amazing workmanship there.

For the lining, I picked the material from a local supplier. I also decided to make this jacket a little more period-correct with the opening of the lining in the middle. And a new inner pocket with leather trimming that matches the jacket's leather. Again, amazing job from JL. I couldn't be happier.

So without further ado, here are a few pictures. Btw, this is the jacket before alterations.

View attachment 567639
View attachment 567640
View attachment 567641
View attachment 567642
View attachment 567643

That being said, there are still some minor flaws that I can spot in JL's alteration work. And this is just me nitpicking. If you look at the jacket from afar, it looks quite alright. Beautiful indeed.

View attachment 567644
(missing a few holes there. There are other spots like this as well.)

View attachment 567645
(different colour of the bobbin thread although they did match the pattern on the other side as well. still don't get why they did that???)

View attachment 567646
(the forgot to stitch the cuffs so there are a bunch of holes there now. Not a big deal with me since I've access to a stitcher and I can finish the job myself. I actually measured the distance between that stitch line and the edge from the outside and inside. They aren't the same. So my thinking is that if they do a stitch there, it will catch the satin lining inside. But they can always stitch it first before roll the cuff in with the lining. Don't know what happened there.)

The last minor complaint is the email communication. JL was late with my repair and Damon did email me to inform the situation. I was happy that they did that. But when I emailed them back to ask about the shipping options, no response at all. So email communication seems to be lacking on JL's part. I believe you can get things moving faster if you call them directly. Mind you, I work 5 days a week so sometimes phoning isn't always possible.

Overall, this is my first experience with JL and it was quite good. It wasn't an easy alteration, but they pulled it off nicely. I'd give this a 8.5/10. I don't know much about the making jacket side of things, but it looks like other people are happy with them.

Anyways, hope this will help other members who're looking to do some repairs with JL in the near future.

Cheers,

Thanks. And your jacket is also very awesome. I really like the design. And I love the fact that your choice of repair made it as closed to the original than it was before.

And it’s a very insightful review on the repair. It shows both sides of the coin on the repair job from JL, showcasing what they are capable of as well as the shortcoming. It would help the next lounger to know what to expect and demand upfront on the job!

 

[MattCrush]

Just got my custom Johnson Leathers CR-76 in 2.75oz Horween CXL.

This is my second custom leather jacket. My first one was a Fivestar halfbelt in 2mm steerhide which I sold (was a superb jacket, but far too thick to wear imo).

Anyway, the craftsmanship of this Johnson is OUTSTANDING. Thank you Damon for the amazing customer service. You have a customer for life!

The jacket fits well but is damn stiff right out of the box. It will break in overtime I hope! I think for the future, I will go for a bigger p2p measurement. I have a 43” chest and went with a 23” p2p measurement for this jacket.

Anyway, here are the pics!

View attachment 564478 View attachment 564479

Looks great, can you give me any more feedback or suggestions? I joined this forum specifically to get information on the Aero and Johnson cafe racer jackets

 

[MadCat]

Hey, just email Damon at Johnson Leathers and he will help you. The only feedback I can give you is the quality is top notch, the craftsmanship is beautiful. I have not found any flaws on the jacket and I actually have another jacket on the way from them! Just make sure you get all your measurements right, or send Damon your body measurements and he will know what size you need.

Looks great, can you give me any more feedback or suggestions? I joined this forum specifically to get information on the Aero and Johnson cafe racer jackets

 

[MattCrush]

Hey, just email Damon at Johnson Leathers and he will help you. The only feedback I can give you is the quality is top notch, the craftsmanship is beautiful. I have not found any flaws on the jacket and I actually have another jacket on the way from them! Just make sure you get all your measurements right, or send Damon your body measurements and he will know what size you need.

Thanks, is there anything specific to them ? Aspects they’re known for or unique options?

 

[MadCat]

Building a damn good jacket. They’ll build you anything you want.

Thanks, is there anything specific to them ? Aspects they’re known for or unique options?

 

[3.14nche]

As promised here’s more of my new Type I I received a week or so ago.
Again a big thank you to @Canuck Panda for the opportunity.

The jacket feels pretty soft and lightweight but it’s probably because lately I’ve mainly been wearing CXLHH and whatever warhorse LW uses. It weighs just shy of 2 kg.
There is already some brown peaking through.

Some pictures first and a bit of backstory and how the whole process went below for those interested.

 

[3.14nche]

So I've been eyeing a Type I or II trucker for a while.
As far as I know there are a few Japanese brands (Fine Creek, Y2) that make them but it does not seem to be too popular in the West.
From what I read availability always seems to be an issue and fit can be tricky.
Also I'm always reluctant to buy anything from outside the EU as it can quickly become very expensive to import stuff over here.

Two years or so ago I spotted this one on Reb_bel Instagram and tracked it down on Aliexpress.

I was aware that Chinese brands can be hit or miss but some members here had good results so as it was fairly cheap and duties were paid for I gave it a try.
Unfortunately it did not turn out too well as the fit was kind of weird on me.
Chest and back length were okay but shoulders were too narrow in turn making the sleeves a bit short.
Sleeves were pretty narrow too and it had an odd flare at the hem.
The leather is pretty unremarkable too.
My gf likes it so she wears it now. Not great but all was not lost.
It looks like this IRL.


Later on I noticed that JL was making one.
I didn't go for it and kept it in the back of my head.
Then last August CP offered to jump in on his batch of Shinki.
I thought that taking the price of the leather out of the duties equation maybe... and pulled the trigger.
I sent an email to JL and within a couple of days got a response from Damon. I then got my share of the leather from CP and the ball rolling.
I provided measurements from my Vanson Enfield which I believe fits me pretty well and after a few more emails made a deposit and got quoted a delivery around November.

Fast forward to October when Damon told me that a canvas version was on its way.
I did not expect to get one but it was a pleasant surprise.
Unfortunately it got lost in transit and about two months later Damon sent me another one which arrived mid December.

I took a few fit pics and asked for some minor adjustments.
A couple of weeks later I was informed that the jacket was in production.
We exchanged a few more emails to decide on the lining and snaps and by mid January the jacket was done and shipped.

#include <usual_rant_about_duties>
Even though I have to say that Damon did his best to keep them as low as possible.

Overall I’m pretty pleased with the whole process.
If I were to nitpick I had to follow-up on emails on two occasions because I was getting no answer.
The first one was when the mockup got lost which is why it took so long to arrive and the second one after sending fit pics so I had no acknowledgement of the adjustments before the jacket went to production.
I'm under the impression that Damon handles all emails by himself so if he’s on vacation there’s a chance not to get an answer.
Anyway I don’t think I can complain considering the end result.

 

[JMax]

So I've been eyeing a Type I or II trucker for a while.
As far as I know there are a few Japanese brands (Fine Creek, Y2) that make them but it does not seem to be too popular in the West.
From what I read availability always seems to be an issue and fit can be tricky.
Also I'm always reluctant to buy anything from outside the EU as it can quickly become very expensive to import stuff over here.

Two years or so ago I spotted this one on Reb_bel Instagram and tracked it down on Aliexpress.
View attachment 588831
I was aware that Chinese brands can be hit or miss but some members here had good results so as it was fairly cheap and duties were paid for I gave it a try.
Unfortunately it did not turn out too well as the fit was kind of weird on me.
Chest and back length were okay but shoulders were too narrow in turn making the sleeves a bit short.
Sleeves were pretty narrow too and it had an odd flare at the hem.
The leather is pretty unremarkable too.
My gf likes it so she wears it now. Not great but all was not lost.
It looks like this IRL.
View attachment 588830

Later on I noticed that JL was making one.
I didn't go for it and kept it in the back of my head.
Then last August CP offered to jump in on his batch of Shinki.
I thought that taking the price of the leather out of the duties equation maybe... and pulled the trigger.
I sent an email to JL and within a couple of days got a response from Damon. I then got my share of the leather from CP and the ball rolling.
I provided measurements from my Vanson Enfield which I believe fits me pretty well and after a few more emails made a deposit and got quoted a delivery around November.

Fast forward to October when Damon told me that a canvas version was on its way.
I did not expect to get one but it was a pleasant surprise.
Unfortunately it got lost in transit and about two months later Damon sent me another one which arrived mid December.
View attachment 588832
I took a few fit pics and asked for some minor adjustments.
A couple of weeks later I was informed that the jacket was in production.
We exchanged a few more emails to decide on the lining and snaps and by mid January the jacket was done and shipped.

#include <usual_rant_about_duties>
Even though I have to say that Damon did his best to keep them as low as possible.

Overall I’m pretty pleased with the whole process.
If I were to nitpick I had to follow-up on emails on two occasions because I was getting no answer.
The first one was when the mockup got lost which is why it took so long to arrive and the second one after sending fit pics so I had no acknowledgement of the adjustments before the jacket went to production.
I'm under the impression that Damon handles all emails by himself so if he’s on vacation there’s a chance not to get an answer.
Anyway I don’t think I can complain considering the end result.

No way to complain with the end result. It all looks great.

 

[TelemarkTumalo]

As promised here’s more of my new Type I I received a week or so ago.
Again a big thank you to @Canuck Panda for the opportunity.









View attachment 588816

Great looking jacket and appears to be a great fit. I'm wondering about the back adjuster. It looks great, but wondering how it functions in day to day use. Thinking specifically about interacting with chair backs and especially car seats? Enjoy the jacket!

 

[3.14nche]

Great looking jacket and appears to be a great fit. I'm wondering about the back adjuster. It looks great, but wondering how it functions in day to day use. Thinking specifically about interacting with chair backs and especially car seats? Enjoy the jacket!

Thanks.
It's not a problem while driving the car and it did not get caught on anything so far.
I don't think it'll be an issue.

 

[TheDonEffect]

Amazing jacket! Gotta love that leather.

 

[PeterRocco]

It looks amazing

So I've been eyeing a Type I or II trucker for a while.
As far as I know there are a few Japanese brands (Fine Creek, Y2) that make them but it does not seem to be too popular in the West.
From what I read availability always seems to be an issue and fit can be tricky.
Also I'm always reluctant to buy anything from outside the EU as it can quickly become very expensive to import stuff over here.

Two years or so ago I spotted this one on Reb_bel Instagram and tracked it down on Aliexpress.
View attachment 588831
I was aware that Chinese brands can be hit or miss but some members here had good results so as it was fairly cheap and duties were paid for I gave it a try.
Unfortunately it did not turn out too well as the fit was kind of weird on me.
Chest and back length were okay but shoulders were too narrow in turn making the sleeves a bit short.
Sleeves were pretty narrow too and it had an odd flare at the hem.
The leather is pretty unremarkable too.
My gf likes it so she wears it now. Not great but all was not lost.
It looks like this IRL.
View attachment 588830

Later on I noticed that JL was making one.
I didn't go for it and kept it in the back of my head.
Then last August CP offered to jump in on his batch of Shinki.
I thought that taking the price of the leather out of the duties equation maybe... and pulled the trigger.
I sent an email to JL and within a couple of days got a response from Damon. I then got my share of the leather from CP and the ball rolling.
I provided measurements from my Vanson Enfield which I believe fits me pretty well and after a few more emails made a deposit and got quoted a delivery around November.

Fast forward to October when Damon told me that a canvas version was on its way.
I did not expect to get one but it was a pleasant surprise.
Unfortunately it got lost in transit and about two months later Damon sent me another one which arrived mid December.
View attachment 588832
I took a few fit pics and asked for some minor adjustments.
A couple of weeks later I was informed that the jacket was in production.
We exchanged a few more emails to decide on the lining and snaps and by mid January the jacket was done and shipped.

#include <usual_rant_about_duties>
Even though I have to say that Damon did his best to keep them as low as possible.

Overall I’m pretty pleased with the whole process.
If I were to nitpick I had to follow-up on emails on two occasions because I was getting no answer.
The first one was when the mockup got lost which is why it took so long to arrive and the second one after sending fit pics so I had no acknowledgement of the adjustments before the jacket went to production.
I'm under the impression that Damon handles all emails by himself so if he’s on vacation there’s a chance not to get an answer.
Anyway I don’t think I can complain considering the end result.

Amazing. The leather is just beautiful.

 

[Canuck Panda]

Looks great! Congrats.

Thanks for the in depth review. JL can definitely build an athletic leather trucker jacket but I think the success in most custom jackets I've seen here including yours is the two way communication about the fit jacket. It takes a little more time but totally worth it.

Enjoy your jacket.

 

[3.14nche]

Looks great! Congrats.

Thanks for the in depth review. JL can definitely build an athletic leather trucker jacket but I think the success in most custom jackets I've seen here including yours is the two way communication about the fit jacket. It takes a little more time but totally worth it.

Enjoy your jacket.

thank you
will do!

 

[Rugby]

I am promised my new JL jacket by February 25. I ordered it Dec 6, but with holiday break and vacation they pushed the delivery date by a month. I had two fittings and hopefully the result will be as good as the previous ones.