Schott Perfecto® Motorcycle Jacket

Schott's heritage is a true-blue, real-deal, piece of Americana. The iconic styles produced by hand for nearly 100 years have become infused in American culture and have served as battle flags for the American spirit.

In 1913, as Ford's new Model T began to crowd the already bustling streets of New York City, two brothers, the sons of a Russian immigrant, went after their piece of the American Dream. Irving and Jack Schott started making raincoats in a basement on the Lower East Side of Manhattan which were then sold by street peddlers door to door. Irving Schott's leather jackets were lovingly branded with the name of his favorite cigar - the Perfecto. By the mid-twenties, Schott NYC was revolutionizing the way Americans dressed for the outdoors when they were the first to put a zipper on a jacket.

Eager to innovate, it was no surprise that Irving Schott then set his sights on another American classic in the making - the motorcycle. In 1928, Irving Schott designed and produced the first leather motorcycle jacket. Retailing for $5.50 at a Long Island Harley Davidson distributor, the Perfecto was durable, rugged, and immediately embraced. To this new generation of "bikers," the Perfecto was a symbol of the excitement, adventure and danger that fueled their fascination with motorcycles.
Schott Perfecto for Barney's New York.

But as the country and the world turned its attention overseas, so did Schott. Commissioned by the US Air Force at the start of WWII, Irving Schott designed and produced a "bomber jacket" that would serve and protect Our 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 naval pea coat. Rugged and warm, these leather and wool jackets would be produced by Schott for the US Military 
for the next 60 years.

Marlon Brando in The Wild One.
With WWII over, this country was witnessing the rise of a new rebellion one that would be fought with fast cars and Rock and Roll. In 1954, the now cult classic "The Wild Ones" featured the hot young actor, Marlon Brando, perched on his motorcycle wearing his Schott Perfecto®. The subsequent spike in popularity of the Perfecto® surprisingly resulted in decreased sales. The jackets were banned by school systems around the country because 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. It is said that James Dean could hardly ever be seen without his Perfecto®.

Thoughout the 70s and 80s Schott became synonymous with the punk rock movement. The current wave of rebellion came to the streets of downtown New York City through underground music venue, CBGB. The Schott Perfecto® was the uniform for rock stars like The Ramones, Blondie, Joan Jett and The Sex Pistols

Sid Vicious of Sex Pistols fame.
As the world grew smaller and international trade became common place through online shopping and global markets, Schott expanded overseas where "Made in America" was revered and coveted. Peacoats, Duffle coats, flight jackets, motorcycle jackets, nylon outerwear, knits and sportswear became available worldwide as Schott NYC represented the heritage of America and the rebel inside everyone.

Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs rocking a studded biker jacket.

Black Rebel Jacket Club

“Hey Johnny What Are You Rebelling Against?”
The Answer: “What Have You Got?”

In the 20th century the black leather jacket achieved iconic status, in major part through film. Specifically Marlon Brando's Johnny Strabler character And his free-spirited motorcyle gang, the Black Rebels Motorcycle Club in The Wild One (1953). The sale of black leather jackets and motorcycles reached new heights after the film's release, and motorcycles became a symbol of youth rebellion. The film's poster of Brando leaning on his motorcycle remains a best-seller.
 Here’s a clip form “The Wild One”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCENBce_dls
As such, these all served to popularize leather jackets in American and British youth from the "greaser" subculture in the 1950s and early 1960s. In the 1970’s this style of jacket was popularized by Henry Winkler’s character "The Fonz" in the television series "Happy Days". The Fonz's leather jacket is now housed in the Smithsonian Institution, and the Grease movie duo has also since popularized leather jackets with their T-Birds male clique. In The Who’s movie version of the rock opera ‘Tommy’ the cousin Kevin character wears a black leather motorcycle jacket that is heavily embossed with studs. With the explosion of punk rock the black leather jacket became a potent symbol for many punk stars including the Ramones and Sid Vicious.

The rock star leather jacket
There are many more examples of iconic leather jackets worn in popular culture, such as the one worn by the T-800 character of The Terminator movies and the longer ¾ length trench coat style worn by action heroes such as Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix films. Another example is the leather jackets worn by Brad Pitt in the movie Fight Club, where the antagonist Tyler Durden constantly appears with different variations of his 'red' leather jacket. Other famous leather jacket icons include those worn by members of the Black Panthers in the 1960s and 1970s and punk rock groups such as the Ramones, Patti Smith and Sex Pistols Sid Vicious and Steve Jones. Jones actually swapped his leather jacket with Sid, hence Sid’s jacket has ‘Steve’ written on it a la Marlon Brando’s ‘Wild One’ jacket.
Famous leather Jacket quotes.

-Sid Vicious suicide note:
WE HAD A DEATH PACT.
I HAVE TO KEEP MY SIDE OF THE BARGAIN.
PLEASE BURY ME NEXT TO MY BABY.
BURY ME IN MY LEATHER JACKET JEANS AND MOTORCYCLE BOOTS GOODBYE”

-Nicolas Cage in Wild At Heart:
“This is a snakeskin jacket! And for me it's a symbol of my individuality, and my belief... in personal freedom”.
-Albert Einstein:
“Long hair minimizes the need for barbers, socks can be done without: one leather jacket solves the coat problem for many years”