Leather

Leather has been around for decades, and the item that has been around for the longest is the leather jacket. The jacket has been reinvented, but the staple Biker Jacket still holds its tough roots. Irving Schott designed the first leather biker jacket and sold it for $5.50 at the Harley Davidson Store in New York in 1928. Named after his favourite cigar, it was dubbed The Perfecto.

Marlon Brando - The Wild Ones

James Dean

Debbie Harry

The Ramones

Kate Moss



This season, once again, leather hit the runway. We saw the material used to create new textures by Gareth Pugh, and new kid on the block Phoebe English.

Phoebe English

Phoebe English

Gareth Pugh

"Leather can be made from cows, pigs, goats, and sheep; 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. 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." - Peta

Will we ever shake off the leather jacket, or will it always be a staple piece, regardless of the suffering?