What leather is most commonly used in jackets?

[ron521]

I've often wondered if my Wilson's "Open Road" jacket (and some of my other jackets are) are made of goatskin, the leather is thick, but much more supple than any other motorcycle jacket I've ever owned? All the tags just say "100% leather", but don't specify the type. This was a very expensive jacket when new, almost the cost of a Schott Perfecto.
I note that some custom shops, Magnoli for one, charge a significant extra for leathers other than goatskin, so perhaps it isn't unreasonable to believe this particular garment is made of goat.
Or does the leather most commonly used depend on where the jacket is made? Schott, for example, doesn't seem to offer much goat, preferring cow, steer, and horse for most of their U.S. made jackets.
In the absence of specific information, how can one tell what kind of leather one has? Can cowhide be made as supple as goat?

 

[Doctor Strange]

Goatskin has a "pebble grain" - that is, the fur folicles are packed much more tightly than on cow or horse leather. While these other leathers also have folicles and grain, it isn't nearly as regular and dense. Click on the samples at John's Good Wear site:

http://www.goodwearleather.com/pages/leather.html

"Most" jackets these days are cowhide, and any unspecified leather is likely cowhide/steerhide. The hides are huge and cheaply abundant from beef cattle. Sure, some jackets are also made from lambskin, pigskin, deerskin, horsehide - but they will likely be identified as such.

And it has to be reiterated that how any leather is processed - split, tanned, pigmented, finished, etc. - makes a great deal of difference in its feel and appearance. Almost any leather may be thick or thin, soft and flexible or rigid, depending on how it's been processed.

And yes, cowhide can resemble goatskin: see more recent Navy G-1 jackets that are cowhide treated to function and look like goatskin. In general though, goatskin is pretty easy to tell from cowhide/steerhide. (Now horse vs. cow/steer is a whole other question!)

 

[Fletch]

The standard for the retail market seems to be cow for rugged wear and lamb for dressier jackets. Lambskin is typically smooth and very soft, but fragile. I've had a few old lambsuedes come thru that would tear if you breathed heavily.

Seems to me that goat, with its dense grain and natural water resistance, is seldom processed to imitate other skins. It's quicker and cheaper to press in a pebble grain with a rolling machine than to flatten it out.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I've often wondered if my Wilson's "Open Road" jacket (and some of my other jackets are) are made of goatskin, the leather is thick, but much more supple than any other motorcycle jacket I've ever owned? All the tags just say "100% leather", but don't specify the type. This was a very expensive jacket when new, almost the cost of a Schott Perfecto.
I note that some custom shops, Magnoli for one, charge a significant extra for leathers other than goatskin, so perhaps it isn't unreasonable to believe this particular garment is made of goat.
Or does the leather most commonly used depend on where the jacket is made? Schott, for example, doesn't seem to offer much goat, preferring cow, steer, and horse for most of their U.S. made jackets.
In the absence of specific information, how can one tell what kind of leather one has? Can cowhide be made as supple as goat?

Depends on the country and type of jacket. Goat is common in fashion jackets from India and Asia. In Australia fashion jackets are ususally lamb.

Cow is for harder wearing products like bike jackets. In Aust we hardly ever see horse or goat.

Almost any leather can be tanned and treated to be soft and pliable. And even lamb can be cut and tanned in a way where it looks like cow.

 

[Mike K.]

Post a close-up photo of the leather and we can help you even more.

 

[Seb Lucas]

The leather jacket makers and jacket buffs I've dealt with say that you can't pick a leather from a photo. Even in person it is very hard, as buffalo is often sold as horse (because you really can't tell the difference) and lamb can be treated to resemble goat, etc, etc. Grain and textures are a very dubious source of identification. Over on COW there have been bar fights about this stuff. I think the consensus there is that leather can't be identified by a photo.

 

[P5640blouson]

Leather price affected by many variables

Leather price is affected by many variables, from material quality to chemicals used, to the time consumed in processing. Certain factors play more, however depending on material. For example, to sucessfully use lamb for jackets, hide quality is paramount as the material is usually thin, and so a consistent hide is critical to make a quality garment. The best come from northern colder climates of Africa and Europe. For cow, the tanning process can make the most difference in quality of the finished product. People often bash lamb fashion jackets because the majority is not high quality and use cheap hides poorly processed. A fine lamb jacket will have excellent hides durably tanned and finely tailored. This comes at a cost of thousands $US per jacket, literally! It takes more manual labor to make a fine fashion jacket than a basic pattern moto jacket or flight jacket. On the flip side, a fine moto or flight jacket will have highly accurate basic tailoring and use the finest tanning process on consistent thick hides, all adding to the cost that seems to plateau around $1,500. All jackets serve a different purpose as they are garments to begin with, a human necessity unless you want to run around naked. The secondary functions of fashion and protection (a high priority for extreme gear) will determine the final price within the ranges. As far as differences amoung hides, besides the grain and layer within the hide cut, its all just collagen fibers and can be indistinguishable without micro analysis. If you want to compare hides, generally, the more colorfast, UV resistant, surface crack resistant, supple yet strong, natural surface rather than vinyl coated, the more expensive and worthy the hide itself. This is the gripe that I have with certain horsehides that bleed color. That is not right in my book and needs addressing as to the pigments and dyes used. Perhaps there is something I don't understand about it as I don't own one. BR

 

[Edward]

Depends on the country and type of jacket. Goat is common in fashion jackets from India and Asia. In Australia fashion jackets are ususally lamb.

Certainly local availability and local culture will have a big impact upon what is available. I would be surprised, myself (not to say I rule out the possibility) to see an Indian company producing cowhide jackets, at least for the local market. Lamb, being much lighter, makes sense in Australian temperatures....

In terms of leather for warm weather, I'm intrigued by the Aero Summer Halfbelt:

http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/...ge?page=displayproduct&subcatid=42&prodid=391

I don't think I could carry off that colour, but in a darker, brown hue, if it is as durable as they suggest, it'd be a great jacket for the warmer months. I've always been too wary of lamb; it may be purely psychological, but I don't feel comfortable with leather that doesn't feel tough and able to take some rough wear.