Vegecow Lewis Leathers quality

[Marc mndt]

If the color is like that in real life, it makes me think.

You'll find some more examples on their Japanese instagram account.

Also, check out hunting Vincents

 

[Salmosalar]

Nice. Looks like construction quality is better as compared to the vintage ones. See how the leather that covers the padding shows its rough edges. On yours it's nicely folded over.

View attachment 355999

Yes - they are really well made now - I think they were also v well made up to some point in the late 70s and then there seemed to be a dip - which is why I would look v carefully at vintage ones. I have an SP from the 80s and it is markedly inferior to the models I have from the 70s and the new ones - the leather is not as nice, nor is the workmanship. I think they are going through a real renaissance now and their build quality is really top notch, with hides to match. I guess the dip came when biking dropped off a cliff and those who did ride switched to armoured gear and the demand for quality jackets for general wear was not really there - Aero picked up the baton at that point in the Uk, but now the demand is back and Lewis have done really well in Japan, where it seems they are even more iconic than they are over here - and I think they have picked up some new tricks through their experiences in that market and competing with the boutique and high end brands like Freewheelers etc. To thrive in that market they need to be on top of their game and I think we are seeing a return to the form of their heyday, and then some.

 

[Salmosalar]

You'll find some more examples on their Japanese instagram account.

Also, check out hunting Vincents

View attachment 356000 View attachment 356001 View attachment 356002

I think this shade of green is a bit like the Cordovan colour Aero offer, in the sense that is goes with almost anything, so it is surprisingly versatile - I very rarely wear green, but the SP is a notable exception, and it works with almost all of the rest of my wardrobe. It seems to hit a bit of a sweet spot on that front, plus it takes off the hardcore moto edge of the jacket for more general wear.

 

[MrProper]

You'll find some more examples on their Japanese instagram account.

Also, check out hunting Vincents

View attachment 356000 View attachment 356001 View attachment 356002

Many thanks.
Hm... since I have brown, natural, seal and black, green could of course be something. But am not sure if it suits me
If the green is like in the first two photos, then top.
The last picture is a bit too green for me.

This one would be too green for me, for example.

 

[Salmosalar]

Many thanks.
Hm... since I have brown, natural, seal and black, green could of course be something. But am not sure if it suits me
If the green is like in the first two photos, then top.
The last picture is a bit too green for me.

The top two shots Marc included are closest to mine - the last shot I think is being distorted by the artificial lighting - its quite a subtle green in reality and if anything you do a double take when first seeing it as it can seem pretty close to black - ita hard to explain until you have seen it close up - the outdoor shots I took and the middle one in particular are pretty accurate. I don't know how you would describe it on a colour wheel, but I would say it looks like “dark seaweed” - though that does not really do it justice!

 

[MrProper]

Perfect. Thank you very much.
Then I will think about it until Rip contacts me.

 

[Salmosalar]

Many thanks.
Hm... since I have brown, natural, seal and black, green could of course be something. But am not sure if it suits me
If the green is like in the first two photos, then top.
The last picture is a bit too green for me.

This one would be too green for me, for example. View attachment 356003

Mine is certainly not as green as that! The ones I have seen in the London shop are also not that green - it might be the lighting, but you could check with Rip if it varies among batches and/or request a swatch?

 

[Pandemic]

Here’s a pic of the Rutland sheep from LL Japan’s Insta:

 

[Salmosalar]

Here’s a pic of the Rutland sheep from LL Japan’s Insta:

View attachment 356051

It does look v nice but tbh I think I prefer the standard (and cheaper!) sheep….I will try to have a closer look to compare the two sheep options next time I pop into the London shop….hopefully sonetime before Xmas.

 

[Pandemic]

Vegecow:

 

[NYDRH]

As promised - a few shots of the green sheep on my Super Phantom under natural (but cloudy) light - hope these help?

This looks great, thanks for sharing. I've always been a big fan of British racing green my dad had a Triumph TR6, i just wanted to make sure the color wasn't too green like the hulk green. I just picked up monitor/mandarins vintage super monza if it doesn't fit I'm gonna replace it with this BRG sheep.

 

[Salmosalar]

Vegecow:

View attachment 356053 View attachment 356054

The vegecow is the nicest of them all in my opinion - it even edges the green sheep - it is a hefty upcharge though, so worth having a close look before making the leap. But as Carlos pointed out a while back, if it was called shinki nobody would bat an eyelid at the price!

My vegecow Dominator is the standout favourite of all my jackets, with the green sheep Super Phantom snapping at its heels and the Aero black badalassi Slimfit MC and Eastman ANJ4 tucked in close behind. If I had to trim down to just 4 jackets, these would be the ones I would keep now….

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

This thread going to cost me a lot of money. I need to stop reading LOL.

My concerns about the green are the same as Mr Proper. I'll discuss with Rip. If it's more of a cordovan sort of feel like Salmosalar mentioned, I'm in 100%. Most likely 402, beige tape, square logo. Still debating lining but I think red quilt for the win.

But that Dominator keeps calling me. And the Rutland Sheep and Vegcow, wow. There's a warm glow to a lot of the leathers they use that I've only seen with Cals. Basically like this (ps, I know the jacket is too tight, I don't care LOL)

 

[Salmosalar]

This one has the red quilted lining.

View attachment 355986
It's a size 40, too small for me unfortunately. I'm not sure what size you wear but you might want to check out my listing :

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/fs-70s-sheepskin-lewis-leathers-super-monza-size-40.104865/

Is the black lining indicative of a particular Era? I owned this one which I though was from the 80s, not sure though. It was missing the label.

View attachment 355992 View attachment 355993 View attachment 355994

My guess is that one you have with the brown collar lining is from the later era of the 80s onwards when I think quality dropped off - the leather grain, the patchwork and sewing all look well below the standard of the ones you showed with the blue collars - this has echoes of what I found on the SH market, with a blue HH jacket from the 80s having similar flaws and I was v disappointed with it after finding the really nice black cowhide Monza from the 70s. After that I gave up on the SH gig and figured the better value, fit and quality was to be had by just going for a new custom order and I havent looked back since. I think also a lot of them took a real hammering by serious riders back in the day - they were really exposed to the elements and put through the wringer, which was fine if the owner took reasonable care of them as they are really tough jackets, but I think a good number never saw any sight of conditioner etc and its hard to tell from seller's descriptions what nick they are in. Sometimes you get them straight from the original owner who has looked after them properly over their lifetime and those can be real gems. But its a gamble and SH prices tend to be pretty high given the risks….you are often looking at 1/3 to 1/2 the price of a new custom order where you can be sure of a perfect fit, with top end leather and craftsmanship. Some SH offerings are even multiples of the price of the new jackets, which is totally crazy in my view.

 

[Salmosalar]

Ho

This thread going to cost me a lot of money. I need to stop reading LOL.

My concerns about the green are the same as Mr Proper. I'll discuss with Rip. If it's more of a cordovan sort of feel like Salmosalar mentioned, I'm in 100%. Most likely 402, beige tape, square logo. Still debating lining but I think red quilt for the win.

But that Dominator keeps calling me. And the Rutland Sheep and Vegcow, wow. There's a warm glow to a lot of the leathers they use that I've only seen with Cals. Basically like this (ps, I know the jacket is too tight, I don't care LOL)

Hopefully Marc can share his green Cyclone with us tomorrow…I think that one will be really stellar and might well drag you off the fence ! Their black jackets are amazing, with real depth of colour in both the sheep and vegecow, but the green sheep is without a doubt where I would start tbh…..

 

[handymike]

The people running LL now have definitely improved the quality since taking over. I’m glad, and I might even pull the trigger on my dream Green Dominator sometime soon. The big stumbling block for me is their stockist here in LA...They really didn’t know much, and were unhelpful people when I visited.
I almost nabbed the green racing jacket from eBay, but it wasn’t meant to be...

I can’t wait to see photos of all your new LL jackets!

 

[Marc mndt]

Hopefully Marc can share his green Cyclone with us tomorrow…I think that one will be really stellar and might well drag you off the fence !

I'll be looking out of the window waiting for the DHL delivery guy to show up

I hope they had some crazy grainy hide on hand when my Cyclone went into production.

 

[Salmosalar]

Looking forward to seeing it! Has time slowed to a crawl, now its just a few hours away….?!

 

[TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead]

The people running LL now have definitely improved the quality since taking over. I’m glad, and I might even pull the trigger on my dream Green Dominator sometime soon. The big stumbling block for me is their stockist here in LA...They really didn’t know much, and were unhelpful people when I visited.
I almost nabbed the green racing jacket from eBay, but it wasn’t meant to be...

I can’t wait to see photos of all your new LL jackets!

I thought about going to Stronghold in Venice but i priced it out and on paper at least, seems like it'll be a couple hundred bucks more. $1250 + LA sales tax so lets say almost $1400.

On the LL website, I'm getting about $1100 since there's no vat. I'm figuring $100 shipping (prob high) and ???? customs or other taxes. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[Canuck Panda]

@MrProper The British Racing Green is dark green. I think you have all the other comparison leather in the photo, the natural had two summers of tanning so it would look a bit more orange than yours.
Size 46 still sounds huge though. But Rip is pretty good at figuring out the sizing with you once you gave him your measurements.