US leather jacket makers

[Rugby]

It's not a deerskin, so not what you're looking for, but I can see why a 4 oz hide that wears like a thin one would cost a premium. It would be interesting to try on sometime.

I will be going to NYC in June and I'll stop by the Schott shop. I'll check this deer-cow out. It's horween it must be top notch

 

[MrProper]

Generally true, but Lewis for instance will do full bespoke, making a pattern specific to the customer, if necessary. It usually isn't, though, given the nature of leather vs textile.

I wouldn't call it bespoke. More like customizable.
For example, the waist can not be adjusted. This is always hem + chest divided by 2
The hem can only be adjusted in 5cm steps based on P2P. So 118 P2P are 98, 93 or 103 cm hem. 100 would not be possible.
Quote: "Hem measurement - because the way the jackets are constructed in panels we can only alter by increments of 5cm".

 

[JMax]

I think some of us have different ideas of what bespoke is. I see it as a maker creating a pattern specifically for a customers specific body shape, body movement, inner daemon, whatever else. Impossible to do without numerous in person meetings with the maker. Impossible to do by sending numbers and measurements via email. That is just tweaking an existing pattern- MTM, however detailed it may or may not be.

Maybe JL or FL do bespoke if you go in. I’d bet it is a highly customized MTM jacket. One visit and presto, custom jacket. Which is more than enough and perfect about 100 percent of the time for leather gear. But bespoke is something else entirely. I mentioned it here years ago— None of the makers I am aware of do anything like what my pops said his uncle in the bespoke garment business did. My dad said he would get insulted when tailors claimed to be bespoke and really weren’t. Stolen valor type shit I guess.

I understand that leather is a different beast, but bespoke means what it means and is what it is.

 

[Marc mndt]

Johnson will also do bespoke as necessary, to my knowledge, as you mention. Greg Field as well.

Greg doesn't do bespoke. He customizes his base pattern.

 

[Aloysius]

Greg doesn't do bespoke. He customizes his base pattern.

Then I misunderstood. However Lewis certainly does draw up a bespoke pattern for a customer if required. They’ve done so for people on this forum.

 

[Aloysius]

I see it as a maker creating a pattern specifically for a customers specific body shape, body movement, inner daemon, whatever else. Impossible to do without numerous in person meetings with the maker. Impossible to do by sending numbers and measurements via email. That is just tweaking an existing pattern- MTM, however detailed it may or may not be.

As do I. No amount of finishing or handwork on MTM will make it bespoke. Bespoke means the pattern is drawn up specifically for the customer.

I started out on this forum when it was still tailoring oriented, and commission from a bespoke tailor myself.

 

[red devil]

I think some of us have different ideas of what bespoke is. I see it as a maker creating a pattern specifically for a customers specific body shape, body movement, inner daemon, whatever else. Impossible to do without numerous in person meetings with the maker. Impossible to do by sending numbers and measurements via email. That is just tweaking an existing pattern- MTM, however detailed it may or may not be.

Maybe JL or FL do bespoke if you go in. I’d bet it is a highly customized MTM jacket. One visit and presto, custom jacket. Which is more than enough and perfect about 100 percent of the time for leather gear. But bespoke is something else entirely. I mentioned it here years ago— None of the makers I am aware of do anything like what my pops said his uncle in the bespoke garment business did. My dad said he would get insulted when tailors claimed to be bespoke and really weren’t. Stolen valor type shit I guess.

I understand that leather is a different beast, but bespoke means what it means and is what it is.

I think my JL custom aviator is a full bespole, they had to make the pattern from pictures and go through two mock ups

 

[MrProper]

Then 5* is also bespoke, because for some of my jackets own patterns were created from photos, own wishes and my measurements. Admittedly without mock up.
Nevertheless, I would not call that bespoke. Just as little as with FL, Aero and LL.

 

[Aloysius]

The Lewis bespoke service I’m talking about entailed the cutter measuring the customer at the London HQ, making a personal pattern and using it. Exactly the same process as, say, a Savile Row tailor.

I’d say the 5* jackets where they’ve made you a personalized pattern achieve the main requirement of bespoke (personal pattern), at least potentially though a bespoke tailor will also note things like posture, curvature, any asymmetries— however the lack of fittings are probably what disqualify it.

 

[MrProper]

The Lewis bespoke service I’m talking about entailed the cutter measuring the customer at the London HQ, making a personal pattern and using it. Exactly the same process as, say, a Savile Row tailor.

Not that it would be in the cards for me, but definitely interesting. That was unknown to me.

l also note things like posture, curvature, any asymmetries— however the lack of fittings are probably what disqualify it.

Yes exactly, this would be my understanding of bespoke. Tailored to the skin, compensating asymmetries , etc.

 

[Rugby]

Definitions from google:

Custom garments are made with you in mind. A tailor makes a series of measurements and will create a pattern for you. Everything from the slope of your shoulders and hips to the length of your legs will be considered in creating this custom suit. These garments are more expensive than made-to-measure ones because your specific frame and preferences were used to create the pattern. You can choose the fabric for a custom garment and have many more options than a made to measure garment.

The point of a bespoke garment is that it is original and adapts to the specific nuances of the person’s body. The tailor considers everything from the arch of the back and shape of the leg to traditional measurements.
Bespoke tailors have many fittings over the course of two months as the garment is created.

So, the best approximation to a custom/bespoke jacket, in my experience, would be Johnson Leathers as they made me jackets from pictures, detailed measurements and two fitting mock jackets they sent me and I sent them back a video of me wearing the mock jacket. Of course if someone lives in the area of a cooperating maker, then I guess the jacket will be full bespoke.

 

[JMax]

Custom and bespoke are different. Custom is not original to the customer. I’d argue that the author using the term “create a pattern” to describe custom is a bit misleading. I guess if you tweak an existing pattern enough it becomes new. But it isn’t original. The author does seem to get that right as he mentions it in the bespoke section. Is there a link to that article? It looks interesting, especially how he/she has differentiated MTM and Custom. I’d like to see that. Thanks.

 

[Rugby]

Custom and bespoke are different. Custom is not original to the customer. I’d argue that the author using the term “create a pattern” to describe custom is a bit misleading. I guess if you tweak an existing pattern enough it becomes new. But it isn’t original. The author does seem to get that right as he mentions it in the bespoke section. Is there a link to that article? It looks interesting, especially how he/she has differentiated MTM and Custom. I’d like to see that. Thanks.

I got it from this site.
https://jeffreyscott.com/blog/diffe... point of a bespoke,as the garment is created.
The first that popped up at google search. Didn't look at any other ones

 

[Aloysius]

Custom and bespoke are different. Custom is not original to the customer. I’d argue that the author using the term “create a pattern” to describe custom is a bit misleading. I guess if you tweak an existing pattern enough it becomes new. But it isn’t original. The author does seem to get that right as he mentions it in the bespoke section. Is there a link to that article? It looks interesting, especially how he/she has differentiated MTM and Custom. I’d like to see that. Thanks.

Depends. For a long time, ‘custom’ in the US connoted what ‘bespoke’ did in Britain. The term bespoke has since caught on in the US, though it’s often misused to mean things that are not bespoke.

 

[Canuck Panda]

The more alteration / tailoring you get the more bespoke it gets. That's how I see it. (To me) It doesn't matter much how it got started. But altered two or three times after each fitting will give the best results. And that's where it starts to get expensive, time and (if any) shipping costs.

To nail everything on the first shot will take some luck, and at least one fitting in person.

Just look at Johnson's pricing structure. They sell jackets for stock Vanson prices and they sell jackets at almost Langlitz prices. But with high custom prices, alterations are free, and in extreme cases they take the original jacket back and make a redo for free. This is more or less the same way Aero operates, or Langlitz. While they are expensive, redo's are free (or included up front). Same with Lost Worlds. I've seen a case here that he changed a whole panel for a forum member, on the other side of the Pond, and no extra cost, but that was a $2k jacket.

It would be really convenient to be located close to these makers so in store fitting can happen easily. Online MTM can work, but it might take a few tries and back and forth shipping. Alterations can always be done by a third party but imo the original sewer knows how the jacket was put together and is the best person for the alteration job.

 

[TheDonEffect]

I think we're getting into the weeds here with nuance. Bespoke covers alot of ground, usually in the higher end of the price spectrum, but end of the day there's two distinct camps that seem to emerge when it comes to custom vs bespoke. One camp that will only make minor alterations to an existing stock pattern, and another camp that is willing to make whatever you literally draw up.