It’s impossible to go to Paris Fashion Week and not come back with at least one item of clothing you wonder how you lived without. After the shows in March, I returned with a craving for a leather jacket. Whether worn by fashion press, models dashing between shows or celebrities, the array of bombers, bikers, blazers and trenches made it the standout IRL trend of the week.
Leather jackets have been shorthand for cool since James Dean’s day, but in the past few years brands from Miu Miu to Phoebe Philo to Saint Laurent have made the “It” leather jacket a thing. Perhaps Philo’s version from her first own-label collection in 2023 was the moment that the jacket went stellar: a louche funnel neck bomber in chocolate brown with an unexpected cinched waist and peplum. And Saint Laurent’s SS25 bombers (about £4,550) have since gained cult status, worn by Bella Hadid and Zoe Saldaña.
Away from the runways, there has been a similar proliferation but the styles are more varied. For every tasteful black blazer there are tight Y2K zip-ups, Matrix trenches, wheeler-dealer dad jackets that recall those from ’80s TV shows such as Minder, Lovejoy and Bergerac, and Dynasty blousons with suede inserts.
Now, inevitably, I want in on this new wave and that badass, rebellious, androgynous feeling that a leather jacket brings to the bourgeois wardrobe. However, I would prefer to buy second-hand because in terms of ethics and the environment I feel better about it. And I love a second-hand fashion challenge.
Melissa Blumberg, founder of vintage shop Seven Wonders Collective in Brooklyn, says that her fashion-forward customers are becoming even more adventurous lately. “Everyone already has their classic black leather biker,” she says. “My customers are now looking for more fun stuff and we’ve been selling a lot of yellows, greens, even pink stripes. Oversized styles that look like you borrowed your boyfriend’s jacket are popular and we’ve seen a lot of interest in the cropped 1980s inverted triangle look with the big shoulder pads. But if my customers are going to go for a basic, chocolate brown is the new black.”
Excited by the prospect of an inexpensive investment jacket that might inject some edge, I took a lunch break trip to Brick Lane’s various vintage stores.
There were collarless shrunken black jackets that were a little too Justin Timberlake circa 2003. “Pleather” jackets in a sickly shade of butterscotch Angel Delight that made me feel like an American Idol contestant’s mom, also circa 2003. Patchwork jackets with padded shoulders that were redolent of the blue eyeshadow, crispy perm reality of the 1980s, not the Saint Laurent-filtered version. Jackets that recalled footage of people tearing down the Berlin Wall. Jackets with the texture of beef jerky. Jackets that smelled like a 1990s minicab: that heady cocktail of leather seats, stale smoke and air freshener.
After trying on a nightclub cloakroom’s worth of the things, I came close to buying a black, almost beatnik, number, which felt quite Juliette Gréco, and a suede safari style. I WhatsApped a mirror pic to a friend. “They aren’t really elevating your look,” she replied. Back on the hanger they went.
What was going wrong? Everywhere I looked there seemed to be people successfully wearing leather jackets with a vintage patina. Gliding along sunny Brick Lane in smug slow motion, wearing boyfriend bikers with jeans and loafers; or oversized shackets paired with wide jeans and Adidas Sambas.
On reflection, my main mistake was expecting to uncover the perfect garment straight away, forgetting that I haven’t worn anything other than a classic leather biker since my twenties, which was two decades ago. A retro blouson that might look hip and maybe a little ironic on a Gen Z, made me feel like a washed-up ’80s cop eating doughnuts in their car while letting someone rob a bank. More strategy was needed.
“I think some people will go in with big thoughts that they’re going to buy a leather jacket that’s oversized and basically something that’s like a costume,” cautions Lovisa Källström from Worn Vintage, a Stockholm-based brand selling vintage leather jackets and new designs from deadstock garments favoured by Gigi Hadid, Elsa Hosk and Hailey Bieber. Umm, yes — guilty.
Instead she suggests to “try to find what you like in your wardrobe now, what would fit in your everyday life. If you want a more classic style, go for a straight, more boxy leather jacket, maybe a little oversized but not very big, in a classic colour without too much detail, just like a plain soft leather jacket.” She reports that while the oversized ’90s jackets have been big in the US, “in Europe I am seeing a shift towards more elegant, sleek vibes, and a more fitted silhouette. Brown is nice in spring and black is always a safe card. Don’t buy anything that you wouldn’t wear in another style of another jacket. Also some leather jackets are so heavy you won’t wear them if you don’t feel comfortable.”
Blumberg has some more advice: “the thing about vintage is that it’s like a treasure hunt. You have to pick out lots and then try all of them to see what looks best on your body.” She does a lot of her sourcing by touch and avoids “1970s stiff crunchy leather” in favour of “buttery.” It’s also notable that quality leather doesn’t wrinkle as much when its folded.
Leather jacket treasure hunt round two was a more focused affair, starting online. I learnt from my trying-on session that oversized garments with shoulder pads make me look bulky, but if the cut is roomy, a slightly cropped style will stop me looking swamped. I was after something between a barn jacket and a chore jacket, or a biker, even if that isn’t so of-the-moment. I found a selection of new ones I liked, and browsed images of stylish people past and present for inspiration (Françoise Hardy, Kate Moss, Winona Ryder, Gigi Hadid). I was also inspired by Källström’s suggestion of going more minimal and elegant; I might buy the Boxy jacket made from deadstock from Worn Vintage, a neat, short zip-up jacket worn by Gigi Hadid (£426, worndesign.se), and the Ava jacket is a similar style in cognac suede (£426, worndesign.se).
The easiest way of securing a chic second-hand jacket is probably to accept I won’t save much money and to wait for one of the following to turn up on an online resale site: Soeur’s Vincenzo jacket in brown suede or brown leather (£630, soeur.co.uk), Nour Hammour’s Drey jacket (£1,295, net-a-porter.com); or The Row’s Catilina leather biker, which is a stripped-down style without superfluous zips (£6,270, mytheresa.com). I watched a black leather version of the Soeur Vincenzo on eBay for a few weeks, then — as I was dithering — it got sold.
In the meantime I have a jacket on trial from a local charity shop, which comes from the label Jacqueline Ferrar that I don’t think will be troubling any Lyst Top 10 “Hottest Brand” rankings soon. Nevertheless, the straight-cut collared style has a pleasing ’90s look without resembling a costume, is in supple leather and is giving me an idea of what works with my wardrobe before I splash out. Moreover it was only £15. Retro prices.
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