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Vegecow Lewis Leathers quality

navetsea

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DSC_1512_2048x.jpg
doesn't seems like serving any function there
 

TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead

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Marc mndt

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Looks great. If only they would ditch the damn logo. But oh well I know they live from their branding.
A year ago a made the same comment here on this forum. I would never buy one because of the logo.

But somehow it has grown on me and I've come to appreciate it as an inherent part of a Lewis Leathers jacket. Which of course isn't entirety true because they've only introduced the brand patch somewhere in the mid 70s.
 

willyto

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A year ago a made the same comment here on this forum. I would never buy one because of the logo.

But somehow it has grown on me and I've come to appreciate it as an inherent part of a Lewis Leathers jacket. Which of course isn't entirety true because they've only introduced the brand patch somewhere in the mid 70s.

I really like the logo, its not that obtrusive looking, and adds a little something I feel

I don't want logos on my clothes, period (The only exception could be maybe the Levi's one but those you can't get without it, it's their trademark)

I'm not a walking advertisement banner and I will only promote what I want, when I want to whom I want.

I understand some people wanting to be part of the crowd and the image surrounding the brand but it's not for me.

Of course people can choose to wear them and I won't bat an eye but if it's for me, nah I'm good without any patch.
 

BloodEagle

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I don't want logos on my clothes, period (The only exception could be maybe the Levi's one but those you can't get without it, it's their trademark)

I'm not a walking advertisement banner and I will only promote what I want, when I want to whom I want.

I understand some people wanting to be part of the crowd and the image surrounding the brand but it's not for me.

Of course people can choose to wear them and I won't bat an eye but if it's for me, nah I'm good without any patch.

I dont think a fairly discrete logo on the chest of a jacket classifies the wear as a 'walking advertisment', nor is anyone wearing one aspiring to be part of any 'crowd' or whatever. I applaud you for clearly being such an free thinking individual, but really I think youre making a bigger deal of it than it is.
 

Edward

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I would guess a lot of the logo / no logo dispute comes down to what period people are interested in for the jackets Lewis' fist big heyday was the rocker boom in England; no logos on the jackets then. The logo came in in '67 - so it would have been an integral part of the design for anyone whose interest in the jackets comes from their later adoption among the punk rock fraternity, especially the Clash boys, whose Lewises were bought new during their first flush of success, and so carried both logo and sleeve-pocket.

The Levis logo is an interesting comparison: Levis only started adding tabs to their clothing in the 50s, after the company had been around quite some time. Clearly the logo was very much seen as something that helped them sell. When jeans were properly popularised in the UK by the early sixties, the Levis logo was much prized by mods and rockers alike; all part of the exclusivity cache they had for being rare in the UK at the time.


That’s the Veg-tan BRG sheep.

I missed any discussion on the little sleeve pocket. Is there any rhyme or reason to it? I like it ok on the cross-zips, but thankfully my Dominator doesn’t have it. Some do- what gives?

My understanding is it was intended to be a 'change' pocket, though few folks seem to find it much functional. I'd be curious as to whether an Oyster card (or equivalent subway travel card elsewhere) could read through the jacket shell if tucked in there on a night out...

Fortunately, the pocket on the sleeve can be omitted when ordering a new one.
I guess it should be for change or something. But I don't like it that much and I would leave it out.

I'd prefer it without myself. My favourite jacket in the Lewis range is the Lightning. I would prefer one of those, were I ordering new and paying the hefty price, without either the logo patch or the sleeve pocket. That said, while neither would be enough to be a deal-breaker for me, if they were non-negotiable (I know they go back and forth on the logo), I'd probably be more inclined to buy used than new.

The analogy I'd use is: the sleeve pocket is to Lewis what the arcuates are to a denim brand. They're not the logo per se, but they're the second-most important bit of branding. It was introduced with the Twin-Track Bronx in the late 60s, which is why you don't see it on older designs like the Dominator (an early 60s take on the Rivetts Highwayman).

That's why I really don't like that many of the Japanese companies go so far as to copy that detail.

It's a good comparison. The key difference (at least in the Anglo-American world) is that while Levis have managed to successfully protect their arcuate as a TradeMark, I'm not sure whether the zip would qualify, given its practical nature. Be interesting to see it tried. Many of the old British leather companies copied it; Rivetts of London, Lewis' main rivals at a time, did a complete copy of the Lightning - but then Lewis' Corsair and Dominator were both an almost total copy of a design that Rivetts had been making since at least 1959 when they were introduced in 62, so.... (All comes back to clothing design having almost no protection, copyright not directly applying.)

The TT Bronx came out for the Bronx's tenth anniversary in 66; it's been on quite a few designs on and off since. I'm sure I have seen a couple of rogue Corsair styles that carried it at one time and another, though no idea if they were custom orders or limited runs.

what is the purpose of that extra snap on one side of the lapel ?
I think the top collar snaps to it when fully zipped up.

Exactly so.

Looks great. If only they would ditch the damn logo. But oh well I know they live from their branding.

Given they can't protect their designs from reproduction, I suppose its almost inevitable. It's interesting though that visible logos (albeit they are very far from the most egregious example) have remained something which is not really seen as a problem for the vast bulk of the Lewis customer base. Yeah, that's a norm with most motorcycle gear now, has been for decades. I'd be willing to bet, though, that only a small proportion of what Lewis sell ever comes within ten feet of a motorcycle with any real regularity.

A year ago a made the same comment here on this forum. I would never buy one because of the logo.

But somehow it has grown on me and I've come to appreciate it as an inherent part of a Lewis Leathers jacket. Which of course isn't entirety true because they've only introduced the brand patch somewhere in the mid 70s.

1967. After the heyday of the Rocker subculture which really established them as one of the bigdogs (the rocker thing peaked by 1964; the original Ace Cafe closed down in 1969, not to reopen in its present form until 2001), but long before first punk rock glitterati and then later rocker revivalists started seeking them out. I think they were one of the first to put a logo label on like that, though it rapidly became more common in the British motorcycle gear industry. These days (though very little British manufacturing of anything is left) what motorcycle gear you see on sale here, I'd say a good seventy odd percent of it has clearly visible logos, from the relatively subtle to the utterly garish. It seems to have become an acceptable part of the culture there. Lewis still have that, even if they do seem to have become more of a 'clothing brand' now than necessarily commonly-seen motorcycle wear. Punk, and to an extent the heavy metal genre also, did them a huge favour in expanding the market for motorcycle leather styles markedly beyond motorcyclists, imo.
 

Superfluous

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Thumbs up / thumbs down to LL chest patches is a frequently revisited topic of discussion on TFL. Personally, I have no problem donning a jacket with a prominently displayed chest patch . . . so long as LL pays me royalties for the free advertising. Otherwise, I am firmly in the no patch category. This is one of the reasons why I purchased a FCL reproduction of the LL Corsair . . . no chest patch.

Full disclosure: I have yet to convince any manufacturer to pay me royalties in exchange for free advertising. Truth be told, I have never broached the subject . . . yet. I think I need an agent. @Marc mndt appears to be well connected in the world of fashion. If you negotiate any royalties for me, I'll spit them 50/50 with you.
 

TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead

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I take it you guys black out all the logos on your car and motorcycles? Never any Nike swooshes, Adidas, Puma, Converse shoes? A Polo shirt ever? Wife of course covers up the Louis Vuitton or Coach logo on the purse because she wants no one to know what brand they are?

I get that the LL logo is prominently featured and you may or may not like (personally my opinion on it has evolved) the design, size and placement. But I"m getting a good chuckle. I guess the cool police need to let us know which brands are ok to display. Im guessing anything Apple and Tesla are fine right now. :D

I'll admit to my hypocrisy as well. I'd probably never wear some of the over the top merch type stuff you see (i.e. Hard Rock Cafe, a lot of Harley Davidson, even Schott goes nuts here and there). So to each his own I guess, no harm, no foul.
 

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