Limited Edition Ace Cafe London; "Rocker" by Aero Leathers Scotland

[dan_t]

I've just acquired this beauty & thought some around here might be interested in having a look.

This is a limited edition jacket made by Aero for Ace Cafe London. Most of my info has been scratched together through Google searches, so if anyone knows better than me, by all means, please do chime in.

I believe that around 2010 (give or take), Ace Cafe London collaborated with Aero to have a number of limited edition jackets made. There were three styles; The Rocker, based on the Highwayman (with mods); The Cafe Racer & The Ace (Half Belt). Each style seems to have been limited to 500 pieces each.
http://www.ace-cafe-london.com/news_article/30.aspx

This jacket is 'The Rocker", sized 42.
In essence, this is a Highwayman with zip sleeves, double buckles at the waist, a shallow double pointed yoke across the back, no chest pocket & no inner pockets.
It's made in FQHH, although it feels slightly lighter than my 2015 made Sheene (also made in FQHH) & also much softer.

This particular example was purchased from the Ace Cafe, brand new, in 2012 by the previous owner. Living in Sydney, he claims that he hardly ever wore it. Not only can I understand his claim (this is NOT the place for heavy jackets), it does present in an incredible condition.

What's really interesting, to me at least, is the finish of the black hide.
It's obvious this jacket has not seen any hard wear & has spent most of it's life in a closet.
The black dye is giving hints of a beautiful warm brown undertone on the upper sleeves. This is not at first obvious & in fact, you need to look on an angle to really notice it. But whether by design or something else, this jacket would really look lovely with some wear on it as the undertones will provide a fantastic character to this as it ages.
It reminds me of that other hide that everyone refers to as 'tea-core'.

I really don't know what I'm going to do with another jacket, I already had too many for Sydney weather, this may even end up in the classifieds as I'm really on the fence about boxy designs.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings, here are a few pics.....

 

[Fanch]

Very nice acquisition Dan and looks good on you. It has a number of interesting features that separates it from the standard HWM.

 

[Edward]

Indeed. The double-straps are very evocative of British bike leathers from the Sixties, not least the Aviakit-Lewis stuff. A clever design nod in the context of the Ace / Rocker scene especially: whereas US jackets tended to have a front-belt, owing to the more upright sitting position dictated by the design of American bikes like a Harley, the British cafe-racer/Rockers tended to buy British bikes and adopt a riding position hunhed down over the tank: side-buckles didn't scratch your paintwork in that position. I see this one also has a dual-point yoke, as distinct from the standard HWM's single, centre-pointg yoke on the back. In that period, I don't recall Aero introducing any new models, but they did do a lot of tweaking to pocket details and such on existing models.

This line of Aeros was indeed limited to the three models you mention. All three had the same double-straps at the side, chequered flag lining and Ace cafe labels. In 2010, Lewis seem to have been off the market for a while as best as I can make out (though I can't find any reference to that online) - certainly their long-running association with the Ace Cafe (Lewis having been stocked there since it reopened in the nineties) was on hiatus. I believe the relationship between the Ace and Aero was brokered by Will Lauder and an associate of his. The project seems to have ended at the time that Will left Aero (2011), and the AceCafe reverted straight to dealing with Lewis again, as well, latterly, as Schott and Mascot. (It would be interesting to see 'em selling both Aero and Lewis at the same time, given the legal dispute between the two, many years ago, over the ownership of the "Highwayman" trademark!)

The jackets look nice, though it's hard to tell how many of them were sold. This is maybe the second I can recall seeing in the wild, though it's entirely plausible that they sold the whole run of 500 of each to customers not into the 'jacket scene'.
I liked the chequered lining very much; it would look really nice in one of the 'Original 59er' spec HWM jackets.

 

[ton312]

Ah I remember these! Looks fantastic dan_t! I loved the CR version...and that lining is killer!

 

[handymike]

Great score!

 

[dan_t]

Thanks guys, it's an awesome jacket that's for sure.
Edward, I may not have been into the jacket scene as long as you have, but likewise - I've never seen another one of this type.
Makes me think I should hang on to it!

 

[Monitor]

It's awesome! I even remember seeing it on Aero's website looong time ago. With the other two jackets, as Edward pointed out. This was done under the old regime but it was a pretty cool colab.
But what's truly awesome about this jacket is the fit. It just works so well for you. Just what I was hoping for with my HWM and perfect for both civilian version and a classically styled motorcycle jacket.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Looks great, Dan. The brown undertone is visible on my monitor and is the icing on the cake of what is a very cool design.

 

[nick123]

It's awesome. Boxy but in a good way. You wear the style well.

 

[TREEMAN]

Great jacket Dan.....Love the lining too !!

 

[Witchtrip]

Great post & jacket, Dan.

You've brought up a detail that I actually was going to bring up to you guys (not trying to hijack your post here, my apologies): my premier HWM that I received in July has the same quality to it. At certain angles the black FQHH looks like the dye has absorbed into the leather (or rubbed off) and has an uneven brown cast. On the sleeves and yoke, there's actually a very slight nap like suede (I can smooth the leather by rubbing it with my hand one direction and then "bring it up" by running a finger or 2 in the opposite direction.) None of the many samples of FQHH I received have this quality to them, and I'm not sure if I got "not so great" hide in this jacket. I've only worn it a total of 3 hours or so inside, (it's still too warm here) and this browning has appeared around the cuffs, shoulders, collar and is very prevalent on the sleeves. Has anyone else experienced this with black FQHH? I was concerned the hide wasn't tanned properly...

 

[Witchtrip]

I'm going to post this question with pics on a new thread...

 

[Plumbline]

Awesome jacket

 

[ProteinNerd]

Great looking jacket there Dan. Why not hang on to it for a few years and see how it goes? Rare versions like this will always be sought after, even more so over time, no rush to move it on.

 

[Sloan1874]

Tbh, I don't think Aero as a business saw much return from this collab.

 

[Otter]

Was the person involved not our very own Plumline?

I seem to remember Aero having these jackets on offer for a wee while about 8 years ago.

 

[dan_t]

Great looking jacket there Dan. Why not hang on to it for a few years and see how it goes? Rare versions like this will always be sought after, even more so over time, no rush to move it on.

Thanks PN, I agree it's a brilliant jacket & I think I'm liking it more & more.
I'll hang on to it for now, although tbh, it's not likely to see any wear until it cools down again, say next April

 

[rocketeer]

Hi Dan.
The jacket looks and fits fine so just enjoy it. Funny you say about the brown undertones, I had a pair of 1960s bike boots that were black originally but were so beat up they looked brown. The owner said they were sitting in his greenhouse for many years so a little sun bleached I guess.
As for the lining its not my cup o tea. I saw one at the Aero sale but the lining was too much of a standout for me, I think the checks were a little on the large side but then who will see it so it's not a problem. Personally I never take my jackets off just to show someone a feature to satisfy their curiosity. I just thought it was a bit on the bright side and think the checker tape thing, like fishermans socks with the Rocker set, has become a bit of a cliché.
As for Protein's suggestion it may indeed hold its value but how long will that be until it really becomes 'collectable' though I agree with him that there is someone out there who MUST own one.
Jay Tee