History of Leather Jacket: From Cockpits to Closets

Quick Answer

The leather jacket began as military aviation gear. Pilots in World War 1 flew in open cockpits where temperatures fell far below freezing, and leather was the warmest windproof material available. The US Army Aviation Clothing Board formed in 1917 to standardize that gear. In 1928, a New York raincoat maker named Irving Schott designed the first motorcycle jacket, the Perfect, and from there the leather jacket quickly gained popularity and moved its way from the military into fashion.

Most men's leather jackets sold today are copies of designs that were solving a practical problem a century ago.

The ribbed cuffs on a bomber were there to stop cold air running up the sleeve. The off-center zip on a biker jacket kept wind out when a rider leaned forward. The shearling collar on an aviator sealed the gap at the neck at 20,000 feet.

Knowing why each style exists makes it much easier to choose one. So here is the history of the leather jacket, and what it means for what you buy.

Where It Started: Open Cockpits and Freezing Air

Early aircraft had no enclosed cabin. Pilots sat exposed to the air, and at altitude the temperature dropped well below freezing.

Leather was the answer because it blocks wind almost completely and holds warmth without soaking through. That is the whole reason the garment exists. Everything decorative about a leather jacket today began as a solution to cold air.

Military aviation drove the design. In 1917, the US Army Aviation Clothing Board was formed to standardize flight clothing, which is when leather flying jackets stopped being improvised and started being issued.

The A-1, the A-2, and the B-3

The first properly tailored flight jacket was the Type A-1, introduced in 1925. It had a button front and a knit collar, closer to a cardigan in construction than to anything we would call a bomber today.

The A-1 did not last long. In 1931 the Army replaced it with the Type A-2, which swapped the button front for a zipper and the knit collar for a leather drop-fall collar. The A-2 became the standard issue jacket of American bomber crews and is still issued by the US Air Force today.

For higher altitudes, the Army used the B-3, a heavy sheepskin jacket with the wool left on the inside. Modern leather aviator jackets and shearling styles descend directly from it.

Who Invented the Leather Jacket as We Know It?

The military made leather jackets practical. Irving Schott made them personal.

Schott and his brother Jack founded their company in 1913 in a Lower East Side basement in Manhattan, making raincoats and selling them door to door. In 1925, Schott became the first manufacturer to put a zipper on a jacket.

Three years later, in 1928, he designed the first modern leather motorcycle jacket. He named it the Perfecto after his favorite Cuban cigar. It was made of horsehide, had a belted waist, and sold through a Harley-Davidson distributor on Long Island for $5.50.

The most copied feature of that jacket was the asymmetric zip, and it was not a styling choice. Set off-center, the overlapping panel creates a windproof seal when a rider hunches forward, and it keeps the zip off the sternum. Almost every biker jacket made since has kept it.

World War 2 and the Painted Jacket

The A-2 came into its own during the war, and this is where the leather jacket picked up its personality.

Bomber crews had the backs of their jackets painted with pin-up art, cartoons, and mission tallies. A standard issue garment became a personal one, which is unusual for military clothing and is a large part of why the style still feels individual.

Women flew in them too. Pilots of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, who ferried aircraft across the United States, were issued their own A-2s.

The 1950s: How Leather Jackets Became a Fashion Trend

After the war, surplus jackets and returning servicemen put leather into everyday American life. Then Hollywood turned it into a symbol.

Marlon Brando wore a Schott Perfecto in The Wild One in 1953. James Dean followed in 1955. Within a couple of years, the black leather jacket had stopped meaning "pilot" and started meaning "rebel," and a number of American schools banned students from wearing them.

That reversal is the strangest part of the evolution of the leather jacket. A garment designed by a government committee to keep pilots warm became a symbol of refusing to do what you are told.

What Survived, and What It Means for Buying One

Here is the useful part. Almost every style sold today traces back to the original jacket.

Leather bomber jackets come from flight gear built for warmth without bulk. That is still what they do best, which is why they layer well and suit everyday wear.

Biker jackets come from the Perfecto. They are cut close and built to block wind, so they sit sharper and less relaxed than a bomber.

Leather aviator jackets come from the B-3. They are the warmest option and the least useful in mild weather.

Vintage styles copy the aged finish that decades of wear produced naturally. Worth knowing when you read vintage leather jacket history and wonder why new jackets are sold looking old.

Leather Jacket Care Guides:

1. Best Oils for Leather Jacket Care
2. Stretch a leather jacket that's too tight
3. What Is a Leather Jacket? History, Types
4. Different Types of Leather Jackets Explained

A Hundred Years of Getting It Right

We build to those original patterns at Marco Enzolani because a century of use already proved them. Every jacket is cut from genuine leather or real shearling and hand-sewn by our artisans, and we sell direct so premium leather jackets stay affordable.

Shop men's leather jackets — 68 styles from $169.99, free worldwide shipping, and 30-day returns.