Cultural Influence on Leather Jacket

Cultural Influence on LEATHER JACKET 1

Pooja Kushwaha | Priyanka Gahlot | Ritu Choudhary

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1. Introduction................................................................................................................................................4-5 2. Evolution..................................................................................................................................................6-21 (a) Military aviator culture.........................................................................................................................6-8 (i) 1913.....................................................................................................................................................6 (ii) 1918....................................................................................................................................................6 (iii) 1920’s................................................................................................................................................8 (b) Motorcyclist culture............................................................................................................................8-11 (i) 1920’s - 1930’s...............................................................................................................................8-10 (ii) 1930’s - 1940’s............................................................................................................................10-11 (c) Greaser culture..................................................................................................................................11-14 (i) 1950’s - 1960’s.............................................................................................................................11-14 (d) Rock and roll subculture.................................................................................................................14-16 (i) 1960’s..............................................................................................................................................16 3. Music subcultures...................................................................................................................................16-21 (a) Punk..................................................................................................................................................16-19 (i) 1970’s - 1980’s............................................................................................................................18-19 (b) Rivethead..........................................................................................................................................19-20 (ii) 1970’s.........................................................................................................................................19-20 (c) Metalhead..............................................................................................................................................20 (d) Gothic.....................................................................................................................................................21 4. 1990’s.....................................................................................................................................................22-23 2

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5. 2000’s....................................................................................................................................................23-25 6. Forms of leather jacket..........................................................................................................................26-28 7. Perspective of leather jacket...................................................................................................................29-31 8. Challanges ..................................................................................................................................................32 9. Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................33-34 10. Bibliography........................................................................................................................................35-36

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Introduction

Fig. 1. First motorcycle ziper leather jacket that Irving schott made.

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A leather jacket is a jacket-length coat that is usually worn on top of other apparel or item of clothing, and made from the tanned hide of various animals.

The leather material is typically dyed black, or various shades of brown, but a wide range of colors is possible.

Leather jackets can be designed for many purposes, and specific styles have been associated with subcultures such as greasers, motorcyclists, military aviators, police, and music subcultures (punks, goths, metalheads, rivetheads), who have worn the garment for protective or fashionable reasons, and occasionally to create a potentially intimidating appearance.

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If we look back in the history, we will come across a very interesting fact that whether for men or for women, the leather jackets have never gone out of fashion. Every now and then new trends and styles have been added and changed in the leather jackets like the cropped cuts and the vintage styles, but the leather component has stood fast in the fashion industry. Originally more of a mens wear, it grew popularity in women as well when some female movie stars started to wear them and it enhanced their feminine features in an attractive manner.

Eventually it has reached a stage when every stylish girl would love to have leather made jacket in her wardrobe.

The greatness of leather jacket is that it can go with anything; whether we wear it with jeans or a nice pair of dress pants, leather jacket would always serve well in making us look more attractive.

Leather jackets have been around for a long time and were once considered integral pieces of work wear.

They were worn by fighter pilots during World War II

and were the favoured jackets of early motorcycle en thusiasts of the 1920s and 1930s.

Although leather jackets have been worn in America for close to 100 years, not a whole lot about them has changed. Some of the most popular styles during the early part of the 20th century remain just as popular today.

Most modern leather jackets are produced in Pakistan, India, Canada, Mexico and the United States, using hides left over from the meat industry.

The leather jackets are also available in different leathers like cow leather, buffalo leather, sheep leather, pig leather. The cow and buffalo leather is widely used because they are average cost leathers and are good and durable as well. The pig leather is more shiny and is not durable at all. The best and most comfortable and the most expensive leather that is used is the sheep leather (Woods, 2011).

Fabrics simulating leather such as polyurethane or PVC are used as alternatives to authentic animal hide leather depending on the needs of the wearer such as those pursuing vegan lifestyles or for economic reasons as synthetic fibers tend to be less costly than authentic leather.

This is the reason for making fake leather jackets.

That came into the market and robbing the customers by giving them un-genuine-leather made jackets.

Leather jackets being used by all, ranging from movie stars to the police personnel and bomber leather jackets for military personnel like the air force pilots, and then used all around the world, can easily be termed as a universal dress.

Cultural influence on Leather jacket Today, we can wear the leather jacket without being in a motorcycle gang, without being Marlon Brando, and without even being a rock star we don’t even have to be poser(green, 2016).

Schott Bros. NYC has been making leather jackets and wool apparel for more than 100 years and now, as the rocker look comes back into style, they’re more popular than ever.

Evolution of leather jacket dates back to the first World War, when the leather bomber was introduced for fighter pilots. It traverses time to the ’20s, where Irving Schott’s invention of the motorcycle jacket was first sold for $5.50 at Harley Davidson. On it goes to the ’30s and ’40s for another World War, the ’50s in Hollywood, ’60s in music, ’70s and ’80s in perverse feminism and ’90s in fashion.

Military aviator Culture 1913

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It all started in 1913, when pattern maker Irving Schott (Fig. 2) who used to sell raincoats door-to-door, decided to strike out on his own. His company’s name is Schott NYC, It is an American clothing manufacturing company located in New York City. The company was founded in 1913 by brothers Irving and Jack Schott (Fig. 4).

The company made clothing for the United States Armed Forces during World War II and later also for American law enforcement. Schott NYC is still owned by the Schott family and still manufacture much of their clothing in the United States.

At this time brown leather flight jackets were introduced and was worn by aviators and members of the military. The jacket was often part of an overall uniform ensemble meant to protect bomber pilots from exposure to the extreme climate conditions found at high altitude, and sometimes incorporated sheepskin, using the intact fleece on the inside for warmth. This jacket was known by the name of “Aviator jacket” and it had button in

front with collar and from there aviatore culture started.

1918 During WWI, German fighter pilots were the first to support the brown leather flight jackets or bomber silhouette as a protective outerwear layer of their military uniform, and from there Military Aviator culture rises. In this culture pilots and military officers wore leather jacket and it was popular among them only, and the jacket was named bomber Jacket because of its bomber silhouette.

The reason for making bomber jacket was: In World War I, most airplanes did not have an enclosed cockpit, so pilots had to wear something that would keep them sufficiently warm. The U.S. Army officially established the Aviation Clothing Board in September 1917 and began distributing heavy-duty leather flight jackets; with high wraparound collars, zipper closures with wind flaps, snug cuffs and waists, and some fringed and lined with fur. Moreover it would serve and protect military boys as they fought for liberty in the air over Europe and the Pacific. And on deck, servicemen kept out the cold with Schott’s classic melton wool na-

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Founder Irving in the Schott Factory PHOTO CREDIT: Urban Outfitters Fig. 3. Label of Perfecto

Fig. 3.

Fig. 4. Logo of Schott Bros NYC Fig. 5. Earlier Bomber jacket Of 1918 with bottons.

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Fig. 4.

Fig. 5.

val pea coat. Rugged and warm, these leather and wool jackets would be produced by Schott for the US Military for the next 60 years.according to Mick Farren’s book, “The Black Leather Jacket” (Fig. 5).

1920’s At this time leather jackets, and coats worn for flying and driving and it became the trademarks of active sportswear because it was considered as active sportwear as it was very popular in fighter pilots.

Style Icon “Iris Storm”, the heroine of Michael Arlen’s novel, “The Green Hat” (based on the writer and campaigner for black causes Nancy Cunard), became a style icon in her leather jacket and green cloche hat. Iris strom was a imagination of the Michael Arlen.

As the decade wore on, however, leather became associated with the military-style uniforms of the Nazi party, which was rising in popularity. The Nazis were one of several extremist right-wing German nationalist groups protesting against the collapse of the deutsch mark in 1923.

Motorcyclist culture 1920’s - 1930’s

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Irving Schott was eager to innovate and it was no surprise that he set his sights on another American classic things like motorcycle in the making of jacket.So, Schott was putting function over form when he created the rugged motorcycle jacket, and the military’s bomber jacket was all about keeping its wearers safe.

Function met fashion when Manhattan raincoat maker Irving Schott designed the first motorcycle jacket for Harley Davidson. Schott struck gold in 1928 when he

decided to put the new zipper on a leather jacket, creating the first of what would later be called a “motorcycle jacket”. It was sold nationwide through a deal with Harley Davidson dealerships and Beck motorcycleparts sales magazines and was sold for a measly $5.50.

According to Mick Farren’s book, “The Black Leather Jacket”, the jackets were created through a partnership between Beck Industries, a Harley-Davidson distributor, and Irving Schott. It is reported that Beck asked Schott to design him a leather jacket that could withstand extreme weather and most types of accidents. Upon receiving the jacket Schott decided to name it “Perfecto” after his favorite brand of cigar (Fig. 3).

The jackets were made out of horsehide, had a belted front, D-pocket, flap change pocket, zippered sleeve cuffs and shoulder epaulettes (Fig. 1).

Reason for sewing Zipper was that, in cold weather air passes in through the holes of the buttonhole and it was inconvenient for the fight pilots and other military officers to do their duty, so keeping this thing in mind Irving Schott sew zipper into his new classic perfecto leather jacket.

It was the same jacket which was made at the time of WWI, the new thing about this jacket was that it had zipper instead of buttons.

This classic motorcycle jacket was a double riders jacket design which meant that one part of the front zipper was located a couple of inches in. When zipped up this created a seal where no air would pass through when riding a motorcycle. Perfecto fit is short in body for comfort while riding and with longer arms to cover up to the hands when arms are outstretched.

It was meant to worn snug which was preferable for motorcyclists but was adopted by a wider audience with

celebrities like Marlon Brando and The Ramones incorporating it into their own styles.

Bomber jacket of 1918’s were used to called as “motorcycle jacket” in 1928, because at this time Police officers too wore leather jacket, apart from fighter pilot and military officers. Police officers rided motorcycle and almost every police officer wore leather jacket so from there Motorcyclist culture started evolving, and police have its major role in polarity of motorcycle jacket. The popularization of leather culture in this time has been shown in the movie of 1953 “The wild once”.

The real interest of this anecdote is that the jacket was essentially a shortened version of the leather jackets worn during WWI. However, the design varied slightly in that Beck Industries specifically asked for a zipper, presumably because the majority of the popular leather styles of the time had buttons like the aviator jackets worn during the war.

From there, Schott scored several lucrative contracts, creating peacoats for the US Navy, bomber jackets for the pilots, and motorcycle jackets for local police officers.

The factory moved to New Jersey to expand.

Fig. 6. A-1 fitted waist Bomber jacket

A-1 JACKET The early leather motorcycle jackets, worn in the 1920’s and 1930’s, (exact year is not known), It was a very popular brown goatskin style with short styling, fitted waist.

Many of these jackets imitated the style of the Bomber Jacket used by the Army Air Corp prior to WWII (Fig. 6).

These early jackets, were aviator or military style jackets with a short mandarin style collar and button front closure.

Another popular style made from thick horsehide was a button front coat style (Fig. 7).

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Fig. 7. A-1 button front coat style Bomber jacket

Reason of using horsehide for making of the jacket was: The horse hides were abundant available prior to WWII because the Army Calvary and most farmers used horses and provided hides from their stock to the clothing industry.

Interestingly, it was Hollywood and the movies that gave the motorcycle jacket its enduring mystique.

1930’s - 1940’s A-2 JACKET

Fig. 8. A-2 Jacket

Fig. 9. U.S. Army Air oficers wearing A-2 Jacket 10

The A-2, also known as the flight jacket, was first introduced in the 1940s for WWII US Army pilots(Fig. 8). The jacket was made traditionally of horsehide, cowhide, or goat and featured two front pockets but no hand warmer pockets (hand warmer pockets were considered unsuitable in the military), wool ribbing at the waist, silk or sheep lining, a single leather piece for the back panel, and snap down dress collar.

The A-2 is a shorter jacket designed to fit snug and sit around the hips which helped with fitting in a small cramped cockpit and stylistically made sense with the higher waisted pants of the era.

Outside of reproduction jackets, many A-2 styled jackets now are lengthened to fit in more with modern styles as well being slimmer in the body.

When World War II happened, the use of leather jackets had spread with the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1930. But the German military had a more revered use of leather then, with high-ranking officers wearing it as a symbol of power (Fig. 9).

The longline double-breasted leather jacket was a favorite of the highest in command, including Hitler and his commanders.

Variations of the leather jacket were used by their famously conspicuous secret police, The Gestapo, as well as The SS

Panzer division, Luftwaffe fighter pilots and U-Boat crews. All were traced in A-2 jacket, it’s fair to say that the German military liked a leather jacket (Dike, 2015).

During the Second World War, aviator jacket was known as “bomber jackets” and were heavily insulated and prized for their warmth, and became synonymous with military garb, with the U.S. Army standardizing the A-2 leather flight jacket during this time (Fig. 10).

The popular aviator style has since evolved into a fashion industry mainstay. One might even recognize the fur collared G-1 style as worn by Tom Cruise’s Maverick character in the 1986 film Top Gun (Fig. 11).

GREASER subCULTURE

Fig. 10. G-1 style Jack-

1950’s - 1960’s

At this time greaser culture came into light, the most iconic symbol for Greasers is the leather jacket, but the hairstyles and rebellious behavior are other defining symbols. The Greasers were a youth phenomenon that swept through parts of the nation simply out of boredom.

Greasers were a youth subculture that originated in the 1950’s among teenagers in northeastern and southern United states. when the teens in the 1950’s and 1960’s adopted the name “Greaser,” they did so with the idea of being rebellious. The greasers were young white men that needed to rebel and they did so with their look and attitude.

They hung out in their “hoods,” which also gave them the name, “hoods.” The name “greaser” also came from their greased-back hairstyle, which involved combing back the hair using hair wax, hair gel, creams, tonics, or pomade.

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Fig. 11. G-1 style as worn by Tom Cruise’s Maverick character in the 1986 film Top Gun

They needed to rebel because they wanted to stand out as “different” in society. They refused to submit themselves to society’s beliefs of ethical behavior just to be accepted. Even though they were stereotyped as reckless, dangerous, and rebellious juveniles, they were often neglected and misunderstood youths. They originally arose from white working-class families that didn’t have access to the greatest educational resources or life opportunities, which led to most of them getting involved with criminal activity.

During the 1950’s, women also became a part of greaser culture and were called “Greaser girls”. Like men, they joined motorcycle gangs and wore jackets displaying their group’s or gang’s name. Latina women involved in gangs typically did not fight side-by-side with male gangs, but they did fight rival female gangs in the 1950’s. Women were often depicted as the property of male motorcycle gang members.

The subculture also featured deviant social behavior influenced by the way films portrayed greasers. While the Greasers tried to rebel against societal norms, they created their own norm in doing so. Some folkways they practiced include acting tough in public, greasing their hair, and give a thumbs up instead of waving while walking down the street. Avoiding fights with fellow Greasers, taking another Greasers’ woman, and the infamous leather jacket are some of the mores the Greasers practiced. The folkways include hanging out with people outside of their group, betraying one another, and getting kicked out of their gang were some of their taboos. Bopping, down kiddie, and punk out are a few examples of common slang.

The novel and film “The Outsiders”, which was a pivo12

tal book and movie for the Greasers subculture. The Outsiders depicts the class division and rivalry the Greasers and the Socials (or Socs).

The Greasers are depicted as a gang of low-income working-class teenagers, while the Socs are the gang of wealthier kids from the other side of town. Through the insight of this novel and movie, it shows how the Greasers were seen as rebellious, dangerous kids, when they were really growing up on the wrong side of the tracks.

Rock and roll music, and rockabilly, were major parts of the culture, and styles were influenced by singers like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, the beatles Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Conway Twitty, Chuck Berry, Big Joe Williams, Big Joe Turner, Little Richard, Bi Diddle, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Johnny Burnett, Vince Taylor and Itchier Valenti.

But the two main figures of the look were “Marlon Brando” and “James Dean”. They also tended to like sports teams such as the Oakland Raiders and Los Angeles Dodgers and owned “fierce” or “cool” dogs and cats.

Reason: the 1950s were considered dull and the youths craved a new sense of adventure. The leather jacket marked greaser youths as daring and adventuresome young men, like the pilot heroes of a recent war. So, from their fashion sense to their confident attitudes, the Greasers were a youth phenomenon that swept through parts of the nation simply out of boredom.

The leather motorcycle jacket picked up more cultural meaning and reached iconic status when “Marlon Brando” wore one in his portrayal of Johnny Strabler’s character in the 1953 movie “The Wild One”, based on a short

The Greaser Look

Fig. 13.

Fig. 12.

Fig. 15.

Fig. 14.

Fig. 12. Public image meant everything in Greaser culture.

Fig. 13. Greaser girls.

Fig. 14. & Fig. 15. Image is from the movie “the outsiders� which shows typical greaser look.

Fig. 16. Iconic feature of greasers was the leather jacket, clearly can be seen in the imageshows how confident while playing the tough guy image.

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Fig. 16.

story by Frank Rooney’s entitled “The Cyclist’s Raid”, that saw Marlon Brando as the smouldering, leatherclad leader of the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club (Fig. 17).

The subsequent spike in popularity of the Perfecto surprisingly resulted in decreased sales because the jackets were banned by school systems around the country for 14 years because movie considered so dangerous and they symbolized a burgeoning teen demographic, the hoodlum.

Just one year later, the Perfecto was catapulted to the height of its popularity when a love for speed ended the life of the quintessential hoodlum.

Two years later, “Rebel Without a Cause” starring James Dean, was released. It is said that James Dean could hardly ever be seen without his Perfecto. The film and Dean’s subsequent death in an auto accident, sealed the connection, in the public mind, between speed, danger, rebellion, and the black leather motorcycle jacket.

The movie’s success ushered in an era where the motorcycle and the leather jacket began to be identified with the rebellious youth, especially in America (Fig. 18).

“Rock n roll” culture

Another subculture in 1950s along with greaser culture was rock n roll culture it is a part of music subculture.

The leather jacket adored by rock fans has its roots in the 1928 Schott Brothers’ Perfecto motorcycle jacket, which was adapted from First World War aviation garb.

It’s first true rock n roll moment came not from music, but from the silver screen when filmmakers tapped into youth culture in the delinquent films of the 1950s. The 14

Wild One (1953). Inspired by this movie, people started wearing suits and ties worn by the rest of the world, the open-collared leather jacket became a symbol of alienation and rebellion. Though this hero image rebelled against established authority, in these films the riders were not identified with the lawless elements of society but portrayed as victims of forces they could not understand. The male biker wearing his black leather jacket flourished in the mid-twentieth century, and many teenagers adopted this macho image of youthful rebellion to look cool around their peers.

The decade that gave birth to “rock n’ roll” soon enshrined the leather jacket in its sartorial Hall of Fame, and it was seen adorning the likes of Gene Vincent (Fig. 19) and Elvis Presley(Fig. 20).

The Beatles in their pre-mania days picked up the leather gauntlet during their early shows in Hamburg.

Inspired by a group of German Existentialists, on one of their visits they had full leather outfits tailored for them, before Brian Epstein demanded they smarten up their look.

In Epstein’s defence, leather jackets still had such a dangerous air in the early 60s that designing couture versions helped to get Yves Saint Laurent sacked from his job as head honcho at Christian Dior. In 2012, Bonhams sold one of George Harrison’s leather jackets from this period for an eye watering £110,450. Towards the end of the decade, Elvis famously wore an all leather outfit when he filmed his 1968 “Comeback Special”, proving my theory that no one has ever really pulled off leather trousers outside of Jim Morrison. The potential for wardrobe malfunction alone is enough to warrant giving them a wide berth.

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Fig. 17. Marlon Brando wore Leather Jacket in the 1953 in the movie “The Wild One”

Fig. 18. James Dean wore Leather Jacket in 1955 in the movie “Rebel Without a Cause”

Fig. 19. Gene Vincent

Fig. 20. Elvis Presely

1960’s The leather motorcycle jacket evolved into the “rocker jacket”, popularized by the rockers and greasers of the 1950’s and early 1960’s. The rocker jacket went beyond the realm of motorcycle riders. The black leather motorcycle jacket began to be associated not only with the bikers but also groups like greasers, rockers, punk rockers and metalheads.

In the 1950s and ‘60s black leather jackets became the uniform of the wild ones -- rebels who defy the rules and conventions of society.

Women’s fashion came in the ’60s (blame it on mod, or the irreverent tough girls of ’50s lore), the leather jacket was redefined for the ’70s and led into the ’80s by such quintessentially subversive but celebrated icons as Joan Jett and Debbie Harry. Rock groups of the 1960s rebelled against convention, with men growing long hair and having perspectives that flaunted societal norms.

In 1960’s this cool factor continued with Steve McQueen wearing his leather jacket with his famous aviator sunglasses.1960s, king of cool Steve McQueen rose to fame during the counterculture of the 1960s—a time when anti-war creative freedom, as illustrated in fashion, music and film, ran rampant. McQueen was a class act in his signature aviators and leather, but international British boy band The Beatles made the style popular among the up-and-coming rock and roll fan base.

The movie’s success ushered in an era where the motorcycle and the leather jacket began to be identified with the rebellious youth, especially in America.

Punk culture 16

Music is considered by many to be the highest form of art and culture. Music is also considered by many to epitomise their values and tastes, as well as those of

other people. Music is very often a product of its time – both a reflection of the ‘here and now’ and a ‘recaller’ of memories. Music and youth are usually deemed to hold a special relationship with each other. Music is delivered and sold to youth audiences, and young people on the whole are fans of one music genre or another.

The clothing and hairstyles were corresponding with the swearing, spitting, vomiting, amphetamines, and crude and chaotic music. Punk was a culture that reflected a consumer-based society moving out of affluence into real economic, social, and political crisis.

The Punks intentionally disconnect themselves from the parent culture and represent themselves as aliens, inscrutable. Their rituals, accents, and objects were used to signify they belonging to working class.

Unlike any previous music-based youth culture, the punks attempted to break down the barriers between performers and audiences. Punks produced their own literature, badly produced fanzines like ‘Sniffing Glue’.

Although the style signified chaos at every level it was thoroughly ordered all the same.

The punk leather jacket is an absolute must-have for punk rockers. The leather jacket goes with them everywhere, to concerts, to the supermarket and for an evening out with friends at the pub. A true punk rocker will wear his custom jacket everywhere and with anything, because it’s his signature fashion statement. Punk culture is all about making a statement against society, so the leather DIY(do it yourself) jacket is a key element when channeling this punk mentality. You can literally read what that person stands for by his jacket. It is common for punk rockers to wear political symbols, band patches, many studs, spikes, locks, bullets, artworks, monograms and generally their ideas. Punk leather jackets look cool and lend a no-nonsense attitude to their appearance.

The punk scene added another rebellious spirit to the leather jacket with “The Clash” and “Sex Pistols”, customising by adding their own twists, adding chains, locks and studs.

The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975.Punk was really an “anti-fashion” movement and political statement. Ironic that Sid Vicious has been so much of a style icon almost 40 years later. From the beaten up leather jackets, tight black pants, boots, and safety pins his style can only be referred to as truly vicious.

Fig. 21. Leather jacket of Punk culture

Fig. 22. Studded leather jacket of Punk culture

Fig. 23. Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols 17

1970 - 1980 At the height of peace, love and rock and roll, feminists asserted their equality and women also began to wear the leather jacket on a widespread scale. Non-conformist female musicians, especially, began to regularly sport the once male-dominated trend. Sure, rock bands like Duran Duran, The Sex Pistols and The Ramones were wearing roughed-up versions, but female rockers like Blondieand Joan Jett also adopted the trend by adding studs, pins and other mixed metals to the now unisex jacket.It was not uncommon to find many leather jackets from the 1970’s and 1980’s that were customized by their owners. These individualized jackets are decorated with spikes, chains and patches of different bands and symbols as a way to make a rebellious statement.

“The Fonz” from Happy Days continued the tradition in 1970’s with wearing his famous leather jacket that is now on display at Smithsonian Institute. The “Fonz” in the television comedy Happy Days is a character remembered as wearing a black leather jacket. However, in the 1970s, his softened image was perceived as less threatening than the macho image of previous media characters. Though viewers recognized the Fonz as part of the earlier youth culture because he wore the black leather jacket and adopted the mannerisms of a biker, he helped reinvent its image. The Fonz became a rebel turned functioning member of society, and he helped to open the door for greater cultural acceptance of the formerly fringe item.

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The leather jacket became symbolic of the bad boy and rebel, and students would be banned from wearing them at schools across the US. That stigma was reinforced copied them, and the jacket began to be associated with these metal acts.

As the era of punk and metal came to a close, modern stars have embraced the signature cool look of the Schott leather jacket. Rihanna, Kanye West, Matthew McConaughey, and Jay Z have all been photographed wearing a Schott brand jacket. According to Schott, the company never actively seeks these endorsements, but that the stars appreciate Schott for being a “cool underground brand.”

The clothing associated with heavy metal has its roots in the biker, rocker and leather subculture. Distinct aspects of heavy metal aspects can be credited to various bands, but the band that takes most credit for revolutionizing the look was ‘JUDAS PRIEST’, primarily with its singer, Rob Halford. Halford wore a leather costume on stage as early as 1978 to coincide with the promotion for the ‘Killing Machine’ album.

This fashion was particularly popular with the followers of the ‘New Wave Of British Heavy Metal’ movement in the early 1980s, and sparked a revival for metal in this era. There is a wide range of punk fashion, in terms of clothing (including deliberately offensive t-shirt, leather jackets, doc marten boots , etc.). Early punk fashion adapted everyday objects for aesthetic effects, such as leather jackets which are often decorated with painted band logos, pins and buttons, andmetal studs or spikes.

Some punks were anti-fashion, argued that punks should be defined by music or ideology. This was most common in the 1980s US Hardcore Punk scene, where members of the subculture often dressed in plain t-shirts and jeans rather than the more elaborate outfits. A scholar states that ‘hardcore kids do not look like punks’ since Hardcore scene members wore basic clothing and short haircuts, in contrast to the “embellished leather jackets

and pants” worn in the punk scene.

Rivethead 1970’s

Rivethead also known as fans of industrial music. Rivetheads core beliefs are that music should be progressive and forward-looking, experiential and reflective of the technological age in which we live, to much of mainstream music is either stuck in idle (latching onto whatever trend is current) or in reverse (indulging a superficial nostalgia for the past).

Who were Rivethead

Rivethead is fan or performer of industrial music, a late 20th century experimental rock music form characterized by harsh dissonance, heavy percussive elements, and subject matter that is intentionally transgressive.

Industrial music performers typically borrow imagery and fashion from totalitarian regimes as way either of opposing such philosophies or projecting an image of power and authority.so, Rivethead fashion has a futuristic feel to it; it tends to be monochrome, macho, and rough-round-the-edges. It is often simpler and more minimalistic than many commonly-seen Goth fashions.

The Rivethead preoccupation with fashion is inescapably related to their anxiety over being confused for subcultures they profess to hate: Goths, Punks, Metalheads, Death Rockers. The fact that so many subcultures claim black as their color of choice contributes to the confusion. Hence, Rivetheads emphasize a military or mechanical look.

Heroes of Rivetheads movement are mainly underground artists, more recognizable names are Kraftwerk and Frank Zappa.

Lynn goldsmith, a photographer, in one of her exhibitions use various techniques such as props like leather jacket, her own studded leather jacket became an important article and eventually ended up in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a story which she details in her work “Photodiary”.

Rivethead style and fashion

Male Rivetheads are a less androgynous goth with factory day job. A militaristic or industrial macho look, camo or leather pants, heavy boots, plus goggles or even a gas mask, a leather jacket.

Female Rivetheads are something like goth chick with less makeup and less of a death vibe: Black leather, stiletto heels, military accoutrements, sort of a junior dominatrix.

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Fig. 24. Image of Frank Zappa

After forming in 1970, Kraftwerk made their German television debut on Rockpalast. For the first time, their full 40-minute performance has appeared online. With long hair and leather jackets, the band hadn’t yet settled on their austere black and red outfits and clean-cut look. More interestingly, the band’s music at this early

stage was more post-punk than synth-pop, no matter how avant-garde.

So with these two major figures “frank zappa” and “kraftwerk” of rivethead culture, it reflects how they were incorporating leather jacket in their fashion lifestyle influencing their audience.

METAL HEAD CULTURE

Many “Metal Heads” go with the Judas Priest look i.e., black leather jacket, black leather pants, chains, and lots of metal studs. The clothing associated with heavy metal has its roots in the biker, rocker, and leather subcultures. Typically, the heavy metal fashions of the late 1970s – 1980s comprised tight blue jeans or drill pants, motorcycle boots or hi-top sneakers and black t-shirts, worn with a sleeveless top of denim or leather emblazoned with woven patches and button pins from heavy metal bands. Sometimes, a denim vest, emblazoned with album art “knits” (cloth patches) would be worn over a long-sleeved leather jacket. As with other musical subcultures of the era, such as punks, this jacket and its emblems and logos helped the wearer to announce their interests. Metal fans often wear t-shirts with the emblem of bands.

Rob halford is an English singer and songwriter, who is best known as the lead vocalist for the Grammy Awardwinning heavy metal band Judas Priest and famed for his powerful wide ranging operatic voice and also for his style image of studded leather jacket . During the tour for Painkiller in August 1991 at a show in Toronto, Halford rode onstage on a large Harley-Davidson motorcycle, dressed in motorcycle leathers, as part of the show.

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Rob halford of judas priest band, metalhead band is performing in 2005 with his iconic look, that is with black metal studded leather jacket.

In the 70’s, black leather jackets made their way into rock star fashion wardrobes when more marketable bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones broke the punk scene to the mainstream. Band members were often spotted wearing their black leather jackets on stage or when they were out and about. This caused the suburban youth culture to flock to the fad as a way to rebel against the set norms established by the society.

Fig. 25. Rob Halford of Judas Priest wearing studded leather jacket

GOTHIC CULTURE 1980’s

Gothic fashion is a clothing style marked by conspicuously dark, mysterious, antiquated and homogenous features. It is worn by members of the Goth subculture.

A dark, sometimes morbid fashion and style of dress, typical gothic fashion includes a pale complexion with colored black hair, black lips and black clothes. Both male and female goths wear dark eyeliner and dark fingernail polish most especially black.

pet cats. In terms of personal appearance, the theme was also implicit in a tendency for many goths to wear white foundation on their faces to offset thick, usually extended black eyeliner, cheekbone accentuating blusher and dark lipstick, all of which can be traced right back to a number of the early 1980s bands. Goths also tended to expect their pubs or clubs to be particularly darkened, often with stage smoke for added atmosphere. Leather jacket was often with designs painted on it, black trenchcoat, black vinyl raincoat-looking jacket, or velvet jacket were the elements of their clothing .

Prior to and during the first half of the 1980s, certain mostly British-based sounds and images of the immediate post-punk climate became crystallized into an identifiable movement. While various factors were involved, there is little doubt that music and its performers were most directly responsible for the emergence of the stylistic characteristics of gothic culture.

The most important starting point of gothic culture was probably provided by the images and sounds of Bauhaus – notably the single, ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, released in 1979.

As the music and style spread across and beyond Britain via the music press, radio and occasional television performances, record distribution and live tours, more and more nightclubs accommodated the numerous teenagers adopting the sounds and styles of what was soon to become widely known as the goth culture.

The gothic subculture revolved around a general emphasis on artefacts, appearances and music deemed suitably dark, sombre and, sometimes, macabre. Most obvious and important, was an overwhelming and consistent emphasis on the colour black, whether in terms of clothing, hair, lipstick, household decoration or even 21

Fig. 26. 80’s Goth Style Icon SIOUXSIE SIOUX wearing leather jacket

Conclusion of Subcultures The jacket’s defiant tone made it a natural choice for rock musicians and their followings. Lead by the likes of the Ramones in punk, music’s subcultures adopted the leather jacket as a sort of timeless uniform. Kids answering the call to be a punk, a metalhead–all had the leather jacket in common. It became like armor against society’s standards.

Fashion has long been inspired by the pieces adopted by subcultures as symbols of rebellion, but its take on the leather jacket has never faded as so many trends do.

Recognizing the enduring appeal of a bomber or biker style, designers ranging from Rick Owens to Christopher Bailey of Burberry have continued to render the spirit of the jacket in forms both classic and reinvented.

Thanks to fashion’s adoption of the rebel’s uniform, the tough-talking essential is now just as likely to be seen on a Hollywood ingenue as it is on Debbie Harry. Slipping one on makes you a member of one of the world’s coolest clubs, but every leather jacket wearer makes the look his or her own.

1990’s

The 1990’s was a very different, leading to the popularisation of the casual chic look, including T-shirts, jeans, hoodies, and trainers which continued into the 2000s.

The early 1990s was really continuation of 1980s fashion, women wore mannerless denim button down shirts, neon colors, oversized sweaters, T-shirts, sweatshirts, baby doll dresses, trench coats lined with fake fur, and black leather jackets. Matching jeans and denim jackets began to be made in darker shades rather than the bleached acid wash of the 1980s.

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The image of the male motorcycle rider was that, his motorcycle, and the black leather jacket became a symbol of defiance and individualism in the twentieth century in the United States. The form, viewer and wearer, and context of the black leather jacket were intertwined in creating meaning.

In the twentieth century, the black leather jacket became a cultural artifact that is easily recognized and associated with the motorcycle rider and travel to imaginative places or simply with the adrenaline rush of speeding down the road. The image was enhanced by the myth that accompanied the rider, developed by movies and television through specific teenage male characters identified as heroic. In the twentieth century, black leather jackets, T-shirts, and blue jeans were established as traditional American dress, each initially introduced and accepted outside the high-end, couture-led fashion industry.

The rider of the early twentieth century was primarily male, with female riders comprising a small minority.

However, in the last decades of the twentieth century, females were the fastest-growing demographic, representing at least 10 percent of total riders. McDonaldWalker reported that a female rider said that “no-one gives me a second look as a female rider. When I first started in the early eighties, people were quite surprised.

So there’s been a great change in a very short time”.

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The black leather jacket has continued into the twentyfirst century as a new type of biker image has developed.

According to the 2008 owner survey by the Motorcycle Industry Council (published in 2009), more than a mil

lion motorcycles (1.11 million) were sold in the United States in 2007, and female ownership of motorcycles passed the 10 percent mark, rising from 9.6 percent in 2003 to 12.3 percent in 2008.

This increased number of female riders has affected the market trend of the leather jacket: It has demanded that designers for the market add feminine details that have been considered unconventional for male riders. Non Riders are also taking advantage of the image of the black leather jacket typically worn by riders.

The jacket may be worn to contrast with a softened ensemble, resulting in a fashion statement. The progression of the black leather jacket in fashion history fol lows both the trickle-up and trickle-across patterns of fashion movement, originating from street style and later addressed by couture designers and manufactured for the mass market.

The motorcycle riders of the twenty-first century include both men and women who love to ride. Still loving the freedom and the sense of living on the edge, they continue to wear and value the black leather jacket. In 2009 riders were asked in an online survey how many jackets they owned and how their jackets compared to a sketch of the 1950s black leather jacket. Riders reported owning from one to twenty jackets. Responses indicated that the jacket has a long-lasting image as a product of riding, and there was some evidence of the continuation of the values associated with the original image.

The black leather jacket continues to have functional and symbolic importance in the twenty-first century.

Since the 1980s there has been a shift in the jacket’s meaning, from being recognized primarily as the uniform of the outlaw or renegade motorcycle rider to a form of temporary disguise for many riders. While rooted in twentieth-century symbolism in the United States, 23

this jacket’s iconic status may be changing through a perceptual and value shift related to the wearer and to lifestyle aspects unrelated to motorcycle riding.

For riders in the twenty-first century, the jacket continues to be purchased in its iconic form. However, men and women who ride and enjoy wearing the jacket often do not fit the bad-boy image. These bikers, who are older and have higher incomes and education levels than the early adopters, describe a number of different values in the wearing of it, such as fit and function in action and the feeling of freedom and living on the edge, according to dress scholar Marilyn DeLong and her colleagues. In the early twenty-first century, many riders who adopt the jacket for its bad-boy image seem to want that representation only temporarily—when they engage in putting on the leathers.

The traditional jacket of the twentieth century is still available in the early-twenty-first-century marketplace and prevalent as a viable prototype. The attributes of rider leathers provide a recognizable and consistent image: In the New York Times, reporter Guy Trebay declared in 2008, “They seem authentic, in the case of rider leathers, because they have changed so little. That they are functionally appropriate is no small part of their appeal. Like members of the International Best Dressed list, riders seem to have found what works for them, and are thus immune to the whims of style”. In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, the myth and magic of wearing the black leather jacket spread from riders to non riders, even if they did not adopt the entire image of the mid-twentieth-century young edgy persona and all of its related connotations. While the form of the motorcycle jacket still closely resembles the traditional black leather jacket, recent technological advancements

and market trends have greatly increased the safety and comfort, decreased the weight, and added trendy elements for modern consumers.

Twenty-first-century rider responses to the prototypical image support the continuance of the form and meaning associated with the traditional black leather motorcycle jacket. The jacket’s form and meaning in its design and its relation to the biker in the United States created a distinctive image in the twentieth century. The body may function transitionally when its relationship to the material world can reveal thedynamic process of self-construction. This garment has served the function of aiding the wearer’s self-construction when worn.

There is little argument that the black leather jacket has become more than a simple, utilitarian garment worn by males and females alike. Differences in the style selected may be based on a number of different factors, from the wearer’s personal choice, comfort, or image management to the type of motorcycle he or she rides.

In its straightforward form it has few frills and little that speaks directly of the symbol it has become, perceived in the twenty-first century as a must-have for many cultural groups and transformed into a uniform for men and women who value wearing it for the purpose of protection, identity, or even temporary disguise. Styles of the jacket have also been seen in such wide-ranging arenas as subcultures and mall department stores.

The demographic shift to more female riders and a wider population wearing black leather jackets is happening simultaneous to an increase in the visibility of these jackets in the mainstream media and throughout the world of fashion. This popularity has not slowed, as is seen in film and television. In entertainment the jacket is still often used to identify who is cool or attractive. In 24

the early twenty-first century, multiple programs have showcased the various images and meanings of the black leather jacket, ranging from reality soaps including The Real Housewives of Orange County, to fashion how-to programs like What Not to Wear, to custom motorcycle-building shows including American Chopper. Such jackets are also often seen on the backs of Hollywood and national celebrities including George Clooney, Jay Leno, Brad Pitt, and even Fred Thompson during his 2008 presidential campaign. Conversely, the jacket’s role in the media has shifted in some cases, and it is frequently shown in a humorous context or as a parody, as in the 2007 film Wild Hogs. The varied media imagery highlights an ever-growing split between form, function, and meaning.

The black leather jacket has evolved into a distinctive identity in other realms high and mass-market fashion.

Fashion-oriented wearers might not ride or live a biker lifestyle, but in their dress cues they can delve into the biker spirit that continues to surround the black leather jacket. Numerous designers have adopted the biker style, including the jacket, in their runway collections, including Junya Watanabe, Rei Kawakubo (Comme des Garçons), Jean Paul Gaultier (Hermès), Karl Lagerfeld, and Bill Blass. One high-end designer of the twenty-first century, Gucci, created a leather jacket priced at $13,700, made of tan ostrich leather with recognizable features relating to the original.

Forms of leather jacket The jacket took definitive form with lifestyle motorcycle riders in the mid-twentieth century. These were individuals who were traditionally on the fringe of mainstream culture and fashion influence. The design of the jacket is functional for riding- fullness in the upper torso, ending at the upper hip, so as not to encumber the rider, especially the arms, which are free when raised in riding. The collar can be worn flat and anchored with the fasteners or raised for protection while riding. There is a double panel in front, and pockets are arranged for easy access to pocket change or other items needed during riding. Riders often remove extraneous hanging parts, especially metal ones, so they will not scratch the paint or otherwise get in the way. Donning the jacket is described as part of the ritual of riding: the smell of leather, the jacket heavy on the shoulders and encasing the body. Riders discuss the jacket as a classic that is long wearing and something they would replace if worn out.

High-fashion and mass-market designers choose consistency in form elements—just as in the black leather motorcycle jackets for motorcycle riders. The jackets are generally black leather, closed with a zipper that crosses the body from the upper collar on the left to the center waist. Often there are multiple zippered pockets across the chest and a buckled belt at hip level. While surface elements and the general aesthetic follow the tradition set by authentic motorcycle jackets, several differences exist. Safety features are virtually nonexistent in fashionable motorcycle jackets. Jackets worn by motorcycle riders have padding 25

throughout the jacket—the elbows, shoulders, back—to protect the rider in case of an accident, and the leather itself functions as a thick second skin. Motorcycle riders openly express gratitude to their jackets for literally saving their skin when they have slid out on the road. Fashionable jackets are of lighter-weight leather, with no protective padding. Price is another difference between rider and non rider jackets. Prices for Harley-Davidson riding jackets ranged from about US$200 to US$500 at retail value in 2011, whereas fashion jacket prices ranged from less than US$100 for faux-leather jackets to several thousand dollars for jackets by high-end designers. The jacket material also differs. As noted, fashionable jackets are often made of faux-leather material (called pleather). Fashion-forward young women are often unable to afford the price tag of real leather and are willing to relinquish quality to obtain the look. In fall 2009, Hollister sold the “Highway 101 Moto Jacket” for US$130. It was a polyester and faux-leather classic motorcycle-style jacket that presented the appearance of the genuine classic 1950s style with a zipper angling from the high collar on the left to the center waist of the jacket. Zippered pockets completed the look.

While many jackets sought to replicate the form through the use of leather (or a leather look) and maintained the traditional black (or dark brown) color, others looked to the general shape to express the relationship. Fast-fashion retailer H&M offered an off-white lace style in their Spring/Summer 2010 line for US$59.95—far less than any authentic motorcycle jacket for riders. In addition to the “Highway 101 Moto Jacket,” Hollister also sold

one called “Wipeout Beach,” navy and orange plaid in a wool and nylon blend. It is described on their website as “supersoft, classic plaid pattern, asymmetrical zip closure, front pockets, seagull embroidery, classic fit.”

Although its description does not mention the words biker, motorcycle, or anything that would connect it to the biker trend, the jacket has the exact cut and shape of the “Highway 101 Moto Jacket”—down to the zipper and pocket placement. The only difference lies in the material chosen. It sold out quickly in Hollister stores across the country, a testament to its appeal to young women. Juicy Couture, a high-end sportswear and luxury clothing line, offered multiple motorcycle jackets in their Fall 2010 line, made of several materials—denim, corduroy, fleece, and leather. Their leather version was of high-quality black leather and incorporated nearly all of the recognizable attributes of authentic rider jackets: shoulder epaulets, brass hardware, an angled zippered pocket on the chest, two pockets at the waist, and a belt at the bottom edge. The differences from rider jackets lay in the center-front zipper closure, the very slim fit, the soft and lightweight leather, and the lack of protective padding. Additionally, the jacket was designed to fall just above the hip bone—shorter than jackets worn by motorcycle riders and therefore geared toward being figure-flattering and on-trend rather than designed for safety concerns.

To the non riding public, the silhouette and form appear to be most important to achieving and maintaining the jacket’s iconic nature. A survey of twenty-first-century non riding consumers offers valuable insights. More than half of non rider respondents answered that they owned at least one leather jacket and had purchased their jackets at department or retail stores. The respondents were asked to check images associated with the two 26

types of leather jacket: a sketch of the traditional black leather jacket and a fashion leather jacket worn by the actress Anne Hathaway during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Chelsea Art Museum in 2008. The fashion leather jacket features a tightly fitted bodice, long sleeves, no belt, and no studs but has zipper details similar to the traditional jacket. The non riders answered that the traditional jacket still has a bad-boy image of being rebellious, masculine, tough, and a motorcycle rider; on the other hand, the fashion example had a much softened image of the wearer as trendy, fashionable, feminine, sexy, and approachable.

In the early-twenty-first-century zeitgeist, while the symbolic image of the mid-twentieth-century leather jacket (that is, one that displays the wearer’s edgy persona in society) is fading away, new meanings have become associated with it, and positive images are linked with it; when non riders wear one, the jacket draws compliments, which positively influences the wearer’s self-esteem and confidence. A quotation from a non rider provides a good example of how people feel when they receive accolades from others regarding their leather jackets: “I have gotten many positive compliments when wearing it about how I look or how it looks on me. I feel better or happier when people compliment it.” For non riders, the leather jacket has become a fashion item that receives a high level of acceptance from the mainstream as a form of tolerable rebellion. However, since the jacket still embodies remnants of the midtwentieth-century image of rebellious young hipsters, it can create a negative situation for the wearer, even in twenty-first-century contexts. Some non riders shared their emotional responses to the leather jacket, such as “I might look too rough or punk” and “some people look at me weirdly.” In addition, inexpensive materials,

often plastic leather or vinyl, influence the image of the leather jacket negatively. That is, while the traditional leather jacket, made out of 100 percent leather, is associated with an image of protection and authenticity, the fashion leather jacket, manufactured for the mass market and fast fashion, has developed an image of being low quality. A female non rider stated, “When wearing the fake leather, people always ask me if it is fake.’

When this incarnation of the trend first surfaced, there was some debate as to the staying power of the look.

Bloggers (a twenty-first-century means of disseminating opinion and influence) and fashion editors alike commented that while the jacket was the perfect means to transition a dress from summer to fall, its popularity could prove to be its downfall. Blogging on the trend’s heavy use in Paris, Chicago’s associate fashion editor, Elisabeth Fourmont, pondered whether a wearer really wanted to look like an extra from the musical Grease.

Even so, she conceded that she would buy a motorcycle jacket because she had always loved the style.

The changing demographics and heightened awareness of the black leather jacket, particularly in the fashion world, have had a cyclical impact on motorcycle riders’ dress as well, and it is not just black leather jackets that are making up the new biker image. HarleyDavidson has a full line of clothing and accessories for women, men, youth, and even dogs. The motorcycle manufacturer Triumph produces women’s clothing including jeans, jackets, belts, and boots and has partnered with the fashion brand Lucky Jeans to further increase their line. Additionally, fashion shows are increasingly being added to motorcycle events.

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Perspectives on the Black Leather Jacket Viewing the Jacket, looking at themselves in the mirror, many describe their image when wearing a black leather jacket as “damn cool.” This holds for riders and non riders alike. Wearers feel their presence is enhanced with the all-over distribution of the black matte color that covers body surfaces with their hair, freckles, bumps, and bulges.

When a person wears the jacket, body surfaces become abstractions, resulting in a defined silhouette, especially if one wears the biker leathers head to toe. The jacket is a combination of black and silver and is hard edged.

What makes the hard edge? Black outlines the body silhouette first and only secondarily calls attention to the black matte surfaces and the details of the shiny silver belt buckles, zippers, tabs, and grommets.

Motorcycle riders who wear the jacket for safety and ease of use pair the jacket with other utilitarian clothing meant to augment their safety and comfort when riding in varied weather and on different types of rides. Riders describe helmets, jeans, leather pants or chaps, gloves, and solid leather boots as appropriate dress for a biker.

Leather, leather, and more leather from neck to toe is stated as the best choice to pair with the jacket when riding a motorcycle. When riders wear their jackets off their motorcycles, the jacket is generally paired with jeans. It is worn as an everyday, cool-weather jacket to concerts, out with friends, or in other causal scenarios.

Motorcycle riders who wear the jacket for safety and ease of use pair the jacket with other utilitarian clothing meant to augment their safety and comfort when riding 28

in varied weather and on different types of rides. Riders describe helmets, jeans, leather pants or chaps, gloves, and solid leather boots as appropriate dress for a biker.

Leather, leather, and more leather from neck to toe is stated as the best choice to pair with the jacket when riding a motorcycle. When riders wear their jackets off their motorcycles, the jacket is generally paired with jeans. It is worn as an everyday, cool-weather jacket to concerts, out with friends, or in other causal scenarios.

The overall appearance that riders versus non riders construct with their biker jackets differs greatly. While riders maintain the (literal and mental) hard-edged silhouette put forth by the jacket, non riders seek to soften the sharpness of the form by pairing it with softer fabrics and shapes. A chiffon or tulle skirt is a common pairing for trend-following individuals wearing motorcycle jackets. Worn with jeans, the jacket may be moderated with scarves, pastel colors, ballet flats, or lace.

As already noted, fashionable jackets tend to eliminate the bulky safety padding of authentic jackets, creating a more refined, slimmer silhouette. These jackets also seek to soften the edginess through use of non leather materials— providing a softer hand and pliability that are aligned with traditional femininity and a non confrontational position. The online retailer Net-A-Porter expressed a converse attitude in their Facebook posting for New Year’s Eve dress in 2010: “Toughen up a fabulously feminine party dress with a sequined biker jacket, metallic heels and a studded clutch for modern opulence” (Net-A-Porter’s Facebook page, 29 Decem ber 2010). An Ashish black sequined biker jacket, for

US$1,390, was suggested. Thus, the use of the jacket to alter or support the overall impression given by the wearer is evident in both rider and non rider cases.

While the rider continues the overall hard-edged aesthetic of the jacket, non riders deliberately seek to accept the image only partially.

Wearing the Jacket. The black leather jacket has become a classic form that is widely recognized. Riders discuss the pleasurable sensation of wearing the leather, which is both visual and tactile. Wearers describe the confluence of self with jacket when it is donned, resulting in a commingling of body and jacket. The heavy black leather encases the body, making the wearer feel powerful and somewhat animalistic. Wearers suggest the transformation of their bodies in donning the jacket and even suggest the possibility of encountering a bit of magical power in the process. To understand the black leather jacket requires knowing about its relation to the wearer and the difference in the wearer as rider versus non rider of a motorcycle.

The jacket is part of the ensemble for riding. Usually worn with close-fitting clothing on the lower torso, such as denim or leather, and leather boots, the jacket becomes a source of protection from road rash and cold temperatures. The jacket is worn to express individuality but also is valued as a way to become a member of a group of riders. Wearers of the black leather jacket speak of both the individuality and the democratization in wearing it, that is, becoming a community of equals as a result.

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Wearers who do not ride are focused on the image and symbolism they are evoking through putting on the rider-style leather jacket.

In the late twentieth century, young people could boost their self-esteem and take on a bit of magic in donning this icon without necessarily adopting the habit of riding. Non Riders may still enjoy the transformation. In the twenty-first century, non riders get pleasure from the remnants of the bad-boy image that began in the midtwentieth century, without sacrificing their mainstream image. Worn as a fashion statement in leather, artificial leather, or fabric, the jacket can still be recognized as a continuation of its earlier stylistic features and can still be part of the general image present in many people’s minds.

In the twenty-first century, the meaning of the image is so strong that people might be buying the image, the community, the ideas, and the spirit more than creating or living them. While the form remains consistent, its function and meaning may change with the context, time, and wearer. The ultimate purpose of wearing the jacket can be to create reality or an image through design symbolism. All in all, the black leather jacket has transformed in this century, but its power lies in the continuation of the classic image of the twentieth century.

Films of the 1950s like Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, both starring James Dean, and The Wild One made jeans into city clothes, and young men wore the urban uniform of blue jeans, T-shirt, and black leather jacket.

Contrasted with the suits and ties worn by the rest of the

world, the open-collared leather jacket became a symbol of alienation and rebellion. Though this hero image rebelled against established authority, in these films the riders were not identified with the lawless elements of society but portrayed as victims of forces they could not understand. The male biker wearing his black leather jacket flourished in the mid-twentieth century, and many teenagers adopted this macho image of youthful rebellion to look cool around their peers.

Motorcycle’s and Black Leather Jackets are synonymous today, but it wasn’t always that way. A majority of the early leather motorcycle jackets were adapted from the soldiers, pilots and tank corps gear following World War I. During this time, leather jackets were associated with speed and adventure.

The leather jacket is more popular now than ever before with mainstream audiences. “its significant increase in 2014, and it’s been consistently hot since then,” Jennifer Goldszer, director of public relations at Schott, told Business Insider.

Nowadays, the men and women who wear the jacket are looking for something else: a sense of heritage and authenticity that you get from wearing a 100-year-old garment that means something different today than it did in the past. In a sense, it has one foot stuck in its rebel cache, but its tongue still firmly in cheek.

It wouldn’t be practical or right to say that the black leather motorcycle jacket has ever really gone out of style - it hasn’t. New York City-based Schott has been making the style since the Schott family pioneered the zippered and asymmetrical zippered jacket in 1928, and many brands have attempted to imitate its “Perfecto” trademark.

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Today we mainly see black leather motorcycle jackets as being fashionable, however they serve a much more important and practical purpose, as protective gear for motorcycle riders.

Many leather motorcycle jackets are designed as safety equipment for bikers. These jackets are much thicker and heavier than the fashionable version and are meant to protect the wearer from serious injury.

They typically include heavy padding on the elbow, spine and shoulder regions. Often these jackets are equipped with armor making them of immense practical use.

Leather motorcycle jackets have been popular for over 60 years. Because of their classic styling and rugged construction, leather motorcycle jackets will continue to be used as fashionable apparel and protective gear long into the future. (A Brief History of the Leather Motorcycle Jacket, 2009)

CHALLENGES FACED BY LEATHER JACKET Many organisation such as PETA is totally against leather products as animals are slaughtered for this purpose. So such organisations are strong challenges for leather industry.

Leather can be made from cows, pigs, goats, and sheep also from exotic animals such as alligators, ostriches, and kangaroos; and even dogs and cats, who are slaughtered for their meat and skin in China, which exports their skins around the world. Because leather is normally not labeled, you never really know where (or whom) it came from.

Most leather comes from developing countries such as India and China, where animal welfare laws are either non-existent or not enforced. In India, a PETA investigation found that workers break cows’ tails and rub chili peppers and tobacco into their eyes in order to force them to get up and walk after they collapse from exhaustion on the way to the slaughterhouse.

In the U.S., many of the millions of cows and other animals who are killed for their skin endure the horrors of factory farming—extreme crowding and deprivation as well as castration, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning—all without any painkillers. At slaughterhouses, animals routinely have their throats cut and some are even skinned and dismembered while they are still conscious.Buying leather directly contributes to factory farms and slaughterhouses because skin is the most economically important byproduct of the meat industry. Leather is also no friend of the environment, as it shares responsibility for all the environmental destruction caused by the meat industry as well as the pollution caused by the toxins used in tanning.

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With every pair of leather shoes that you buy, you sentence an animal to a lifetime of suffering. Instead, you can choose from hundreds of styles of non leather shoes, clothing, belts, bags, and wallets. Check out PETA’s cruelty-free clothing guide for great tips on where to find fashionable yet compassionate clothing. Fashion should be fun, not fatal! Today, the leather jacket is pretty much cultural shorthand for cool – put it on and your outfit instantly exudes an edgy, bad-boy quality.

CONCLUSION From the moment of production of leather jackets in 1900s, leather already had a unique meaning in the social media. With the emergence in culture, traditions as well as technology, the perception of these jackets has been changed in the most positive way.

At first, leather apparels were only worn by militants as well as pilots, but then, as the years passed by, the police officers wore it for its protective element. The bikers did it next and it helped them enhance their gangster and dangerous-side appearance. The only thing is that, with the generation we have these days, leather jackets already have its versatile, meaning, and has become a fashion trend not only for ordinary individuals, but for many celebrities as well.

There is no doubt that the leather jacket is a cultural icon, but where did it start? Well, unfortunately the answer to that is not as clear as you would expect and tracing its history can be as confusing as it is frustrating...

Some people claim that leather jackets were invented for aviators to wear on bombing raids in world war two; others say that they were around before then because they were popular with the Russian Bolsheviks and were worn by the commissars during the Russian civil war.

The real truth is, simple forms of leather jackets have been around for centuries, ever since humans worked out how to strip and tan the hide from the animals they had hunted for food. Whatever the history of the leather jacket is there is no doubt that, in many different forms and guises, it is probably one of the most iconic pieces of clothing in popular culture and can mean so many different images.

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The brown leather jackets of the pre war years were often associated with aviators and servicemen and were commonly know as ‘Bomber Jackets’. Sometimes they would be made with a sheepskin collar, reminiscent of fictional characters such as Biggles or Tom cruise’s Maverick in ‘Top Gun’ yet the plainer, older and faded brown leather jacket remained more popular with adventurers such as Indiana Jones. While the style of brown leather jackets remained fairly simple without much variation, and often being worn by a specific type of military/action figure, black leather jackets have a much more varied and interesting cultural image and can mean lots of different things to many different people. In the early years of its history the black leather jacket was very much associated with American police forces, as they favoured them for their waterproof and protective qualities. They are also extremely resilient, lasting the rigours of wear and tear very well, another good quality for such an active profession. Later on black leather jackets became a symbol of cool and rebellion and then inadvertently bikers, as owning a bike symbolised freedom for the youngsters of the day in the 50’s and 60’s.

Marlon Brando in ‘The Wild One’ or Honor Blackman in ‘The Avengers’ are perfect examples of this fashion statement during the period. In fact when TV shows and films made in the 70’s and 80’s wished to depict life in the preceding decades, they made sure that black leather jackets were prevalent on the screen - The T-Birds in ‘Grease’ and the Fonze in ‘Happy days’ are perfect examples of this. 1 / 2 A Brief History of Leather Jackets Black leather jackets then went through a phase in the 70’s and 80’s of being associated with so called criminal or seedy elements of society, being favourites of

Hells Angels and Heavy Metal fans (the two often being one and the same). It has also been strangely linked to the gay fashion scene, which in fairness is a world away from the previous examples, but nevertheless still an uncomfortable association for worried parents of the day.

However, the enduring qualities and cool of the leather jacket could never be repressed and, they soon became part of the mainstream again with variations in design such as the black leather trench coat worn by Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus in ‘The Matrix’ films. Whatever your enduring image of leather jackets happens to be, there is one fact that will always remain – they will certainly be around for a long time to come and there are very few items of clothing around in the fashion world that simply epitomise the word cool.

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