He Owns 50 Leather Jackets; These Are His Top 5

I went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to meet up with Jon, also known on Instagram and YouTube as Leather Jacket Jawn. (“Jawn” is a Philly slang term for, like, an object. Pretty much anything. There’s a scene about it in Creed.)

Jon is the most prolific leather jacket collector I know. When I visited him he had over fifty of them, and pretty soon after we filmed this video his collection had nearly doubled.

I love learning about leather jackets, especially the vintage ones that Jon’s collection emphasizes, so I decided I had to leave New York City to see his leather jacket library first hand. Watch it below!

Leather Jacket Collecting

Stridewise (SW): Why so many leather jackets?

Jon: My love for leather jackets started as a kid with movies like Indiana Jones and The Terminator. 

The first one I got was right out of college from H&M, and it just doesn’t compare to the quality of any of the other jackets we are taking a look at. Now I have five or six Schott Perfectos, multiple Harley Davidson, original and reproduction vintage jackets, Rainbow Country, Real McCoys…

SW: What’s wrong with those cheap leather jackets? 

Jon: It’s just cheap, thin leather that does not stand a chance of lasting long. It feels like if you lean against a brick wall, it’ll tear. 

SW: I’m a boot guy now, but my first real pair of boots was the classic Dr. Martens, which I now know are not good boots at all. But sometimes, buying a popular-but-crappy version of a product can lead you to the higher end ones!

How to Buy a Quality Leather Jacket

SW: What do you, a discerning collector, look for while shopping for a leather jacket?

Jon: Fit is king. It doesn’t matter if it’s $50 or $3,000 — if it doesn’t fit, it’s just not right. It’s especially important to get a good fit because leather jackets are harder to get altered than other jackets.

You also want a good quality leather and hardware that’s going to last. 

SW: The average person might not have the eye to tell what makes a good leather, but they can get a general idea by testing its thickness.

We made this video about the worst leather jacket that we have ever tried from a shady online company out of Pakistan. It cost around $100, which was a warning sign from the start. The leather was lightweight, wrinkly like polyester, and smelled like chemicals and fish. It felt like greasy paper in your hands.

Jon: With quality leather jackets, there’s a wide range to choose from—from your cheaper Schotts or Vanson all the way up to brands like Himel Bros. or Freewheelers.

SW: It’s funny that you called Schott the lower end of leather jackets, because they cost about $900+ these days. That’s as expensive as I personally care to go with my leather jackets!

I visited Schott a little while ago at their New Jersey factory where they’re still made. They’re certainly the most influential American leather jacket brand out there today.

Jacket 1: Vintage Schott NYC Perfecto (1960s)

Jon: I love Schott, let me be clear about that. I have about six or seven of their jackets. One of my favorites is a vintage Perfecto from the 1960s. It might not be the highest quality, but there’s just something about a Schott. They’re the original, you can’t help but love Schott.

SW: Now, why do you say it’s not the highest quality? What stands out? 

Jon: They went cheap in some places, like the zippers on the sleeves. They mixed in vinyl on the gussets and some other spots, so they’re not always 100 percent leather. (Editor’s note: Today all the gussets on Schott jackets are indeed leather.) There are things that you wouldn’t normally catch until you handle them for a while, but then they stand out.

The leather itself is a nice steerhide, but mine is from the 1960s when they still had access to high-quality horsehide — and Schott’s steerhide does not stack up as well to vintage horsehide.

But if you try to compare any Schott to my H&M jacket, it is amazing quality in every way!

Side Note: Why Japanese Horsehide Leather Jackets?

SW: Why do jacket guys love Japanese horsehide so much?

Jon: Many leather jacket aficionados are drawn to Japanese horsehide, even though there is a wide range of quality leathers today. Horsehide was actually one of the more readily available leathers back in the day: when a lot of people were riding horses instead of cars, plus we ate horse meat a lot more too — so there were more hides to go around.

I think that as more American families switched from horses to cars for transportation and machines for work, the horse was phased out over time, and the leather became rarer.

There are a lot of different kinds of great horsehide today, though. Many of the makers today are emulating the makers of the past to get the finish and specific blend of thickness and weight that was used on classic leather jackets.

You can find amazing makers and tanneries around the world now, from Japan, Italy, and of course, Horween Leather Co. out of Chicago is putting out some beautiful leathers. Probably the world’s most beloved tannery for it is Japan’s Shinki Hikaku, who specialize in horse leather and cordovan.

Jacket 2: Flathead WRJ

SW: Walk us through your favorite leather jackets in your collection.

Jon: This is another one of my favorites. It’s a horsehide Flat Head Deep Pocket WRJ.

Flat Head is a Japanese brand that makes everything from jeans to t-shirts to boots. Brand new, this is about a $2,500 jacket. I found this one gently used for about half the price. 

SW: One of the best things about being into heritage menswear/fashion is that it’s made the way it used to be when things just lasted longer or could be easily repaired. So there’s no downside to picking things up secondhand — oftentimes, it’s even better.

Jacket 3: Fine Creek Eric

Jon: This is a fairly new Fine Creek Eric jacket. This is a motorcycle jacket style, but with a regular dress collar like a delivery jacket.

Fine Creek is a Japanese leather jacket company known for using a teacore leather that fades quickly.

“Teacore” leather has a brown leather underneath a black overdye. As you wear out the leather, the brown color peeks through the black in spots of high wear. It continues to fade throughout the life of the leather, and the amount of brown you can reveal through wear is something of a “badge of honor” in the community of leather nerds. It’s like the equivalent of getting unique fades in the selvedge denim world.

Jacket 4: Freewheelers & Co. Bodie

Jon: This is a Freewheelers & Co. Bodie jacket.

It’s a replica of jackets from the ‘30s and ‘40s made out of deerskin, and they also make this in black Shinki horsehide.

An advantage of the deerskin is that it’s buttery soft, flexible, and kind of stretchy. It’s far from the feel and wear you get with a tough horsehide or steerhide jacket.

Freewheelers are one of those companies that are incredibly precise and exact in their processes. They use the highest quality materials inside and out, and have some of the most perfect stitching and patterning that you can find anywhere. 

Jacket 5: Himel Bros. Frobisher (Custom)

Jon: This custom jacket was made from my measurements by Himel Bros. Leather. Since this is made to fit me personally, it feels special to me apart from most of my other off-the-rack jackets — that’s also partly why this costs close to three thousand dollars.

This was made in Canada, but Himel Bros. uses the highest quality materials and made this out of the iconic Shinki horsehide from Himeji, Japan.

Wrapping up

Thanks to Jon for sharing some of his favorite pieces from his incredible leather jacket collection. You can find him on Instagram and YouTube, I embedded one of his videos above.

Also, take a look at my interviews with Schott about different types of leathers used on jackets, how to care for a leather jacket, and the five main types of leather jackets.