Leather Outerwear

Leather that has earned its patina — and the stamps inside that tell you what you are holding.

Vera Pelle in Italian and Echtes Leder in German both mean the same plain thing: genuine leather. They state the material, not the grade, the animal or the country. Nappa is the soft, fine-grained finish. Aniline leather is dyed through rather than coated with pigment on the surface, which is why it marks, darkens and ages instead of staying flat. Suede is the napped underside of the same skin; the suede pieces alone are in vintage suede jackets.

The shapes run from biker and moto jackets through bombers and blousons to field jackets, western yokes, and long belted coats. To keep old leather supple, read how to clean a vintage leather jacket.

Each piece here is one of one. When it is gone, it is gone.

Vintage leather jackets, answered

How should a leather jacket fit?

The shoulder seam should sit at the end of your shoulder or just below it, never above, and the sleeves should reach the wrist bone with your arms relaxed. It should be snug through the chest but let you reach forward and bend your elbows freely, with a little room if you layer a jumper underneath. Leather relaxes and moulds to the body with wear, so a jacket that is slightly snug at first usually settles better than one that starts loose.

Can a leather jacket be tailored?

Within limits. A tailor who works with leather can usually shorten sleeves, normally from the cuff, and some makers will taper the waist or move the shoulders on their own jackets. Lengthening is much harder, because the old fold under the cuff leaves a crease. Choose a jacket whose shoulders and length already fit, and treat alterations as fine-tuning. More in can a leather jacket be altered?

How much does a vintage leather jacket cost?

Most leather jackets and coats here are priced between about €90 and €250 (October 2026), with rare designer pieces, such as a Dolce & Gabbana runway coat, above that. The leather, the label, the cut and the condition decide the price, and each piece is one of one.

How can I tell if a leather jacket is vintage?

Read four clues together: labels, zip, hide and cut. A US care label means 1972 or later, care symbols on a European jacket mean 1963 or later, and "Made in West Germany" means 1949 to 1990. Talon or Conmar zips point to mid-century American jackets, Riri, Lampo or Opti to European ones, though Riri and YKK are still made today. When the clues agree, you can date the jacket to a decade; when they disagree, it may be a reproduction. More in how to date a vintage coat by its label, and decade by decade, 1930s to 1990s, in how to date a vintage leather jacket.

Are these leather jackets for women or men?

Both. The women's pieces run from fitted bikers and cropped zip jackets to belted maxi coats; the men's from bombers and field jackets to oversized coats, and many cuts wear well on either. Each listing gives the size it fits, and we can send measurements through the chat.

How do I keep a vintage leather jacket supple?

Brush off dust, wipe it with a cloth barely dampened with distilled water, let it dry away from heat, and work in a little leather conditioner. Never soak or machine-wash it. Store it on a broad, shaped hanger, out of direct light, at roughly 40 to 60% relative humidity. Step by step: how to clean a vintage leather jacket.

Vintage suede jackets · Vintage leather jackets by decade · Can a leather jacket be altered? · How to clean a vintage leather jacket · Real vintage vs reproduction · The Leather Story