Aviator and Biker Leather Jackets: Where They Come From, Real Leather vs Faux, and How Vintage Ones Fit

· 26 October 2026

In the photo above, from left: an Aeronautica Militare leather and shearling aviator (private collection), custom Diesel lace-up jeans, a custom N.Peal cashmere jumper with chain and a Diesel reversible sequin sweatshirt, all three available.

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There are two leather jackets everyone means when they say “a leather jacket”. One is the biker: black, zipped across at an angle, with a belt and snap-down lapels. The other is the aviator: brown, heavy, with a big sheepskin collar you can turn up against the wind.

Both began as work clothes for men who rode or flew in the cold. Both were turned into fashion by films and musicians, and both keep coming back. I have had real leather, faux leather and real shearling through my hands this season, so this is what I look for and how they fit.

Short version: the biker jacket was designed in 1928 by Irving Schott in New York and made famous by Marlon Brando in The Wild One (1953). The aviator comes from the sheepskin flying jackets that pilots wore in open, unheated cockpits, like the Irvin jacket issued to the RAF in the 1930s. A fitted leather biker hardly gives in the width, so buy it for your chest and shoulders. A shearling aviator wears about a size smaller than its label, because the fleece takes up room inside.

A 1953 newspaper advertisement for The Wild One showing Marlon Brando in a black leather jacket — *The Wild One*, newspaper advert, 24 December 1953. Columbia Pictures, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

A wax figure of Marlon Brando as Johnny in The Wild One, in a black leather biker jacket with an off-centre zip and a peaked cap — Brando as Johnny in *The Wild One*, wax figure at Madame Tussauds. Photo: mwanasimba, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Marlon Brando in a T-shirt in the 1951 trailer for A Streetcar Named Desire — Brando in the trailer for *A Streetcar Named Desire* (1951). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Where the aviator jacket comes from

The first pilots flew in open cockpits, thousands of feet up, with nothing between them and the wind. Wool coats were not enough. They needed leather to block the wind, and fleece to keep the heat in.

The answer was sheepskin worn wool side in. In the early 1930s Leslie Irvin, an American parachute maker who had once been a Hollywood stuntman, designed a sheepskin flying jacket for the Royal Air Force. It had a wide collar that could be turned up over the ears, zips at the cuffs so pilots could wear gauntlets, and a belt to stop draughts. RAF crews wore it through the Battle of Britain, and the “Irvin” is still the shape most people picture when they hear “aviator”.

An airman around 1942 in a sheepskin flying jacket with a thick fleece collar and belt, leather flying trousers and fleece-lined boots, holding his flying helmet — An airman in a sheepskin flying jacket and leather flying suit, Australia, around 1942. Photo: Sam Hood, State Library of New South Wales, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons.

A brown leather flight jacket with a cream shearling collar, ribbed knit cuffs and hem and aviation patches, on a hanger — A modern brown leather flight jacket with a shearling collar, knitted cuffs and patches, given to winners of the Barron Hilton Cup. Photo: Nolispanmo, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Leslie Irvin in leather flying kit, helmet and goggles, wearing a parachute harness, beside a biplane — Leslie Irvin, the parachute maker who designed the RAF sheepskin flying jacket, in flying kit and a parachute harness. Photo: unknown, from the Swedish magazine *Flygrevyn*, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

In America the Army Air Corps had its own versions: the A-2, a brown leather jacket with a shirt collar and knitted cuffs and hem, and the B-3, a heavy sheepskin bomber jacket for the coldest flights. Amelia Earhart wore leather flying jackets too. The story goes that she slept in a new one for nights so that it would look worn before anyone photographed her in it.

A US air gunner in 1943 putting on a brown sheepskin flying jacket with a thick fleece lining, in front of a B-17 bomber — Staff Sergeant Frank T. Lusic, an Eighth Air Force gunner, puts on a sheepskin flying jacket before a B-17 mission, May 1943. US Army Air Forces photo, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

A dark brown leather US Navy G-1 flight jacket with a fur collar and squadron patches, shown from the front and the back — A US Navy G-1 leather flight jacket with a fur collar and squadron patches, the type made famous again by *Top Gun*. Photo: Solicitr, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Amelia Earhart in 1937, smiling in the cockpit of her Lockheed Electra, in a brown leather flying jacket — Amelia Earhart in the cockpit of her Electra, 1937, in a leather flying jacket. Photo: New York World-Telegram and the Sun, Library of Congress, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

A vintage brown sheepskin aviator jacket with a wide cream shearling collar, worn with denim shorts, shown from the front, open and from the back — The same idea eighty years on: a vintage brown sheepskin aviator with a wide shearling collar, worn loose over shorts. **Sold.**

A grey Lindarico jacket with a big fur collar, and a cropped brown sheepskin aviator with fur cuffs and patchwork fur pockets, laid flat and worn with a pleated mini skirt — Two takes on the fur collar, both available: a grey Lindarico jacket, and a cropped 90s sheepskin aviator with patchwork fur pockets I added myself.

Where the biker jacket comes from

The biker jacket has a birthday and a maker. In 1928 Irving Schott, who ran a coat business in New York with his brother, cut a heavy black leather jacket for motorcyclists. He named it the Perfecto, after his favourite cigar, and it was sold for $5.50 through a Harley-Davidson distributor on Long Island.

Every detail had a job. The zip runs at an angle so the jacket can close over the chest without a bulky fold in the middle. The wide lapels snap down so they do not flap at speed. The belt pulls the hem tight against the wind, and zipped cuffs close around the wrists.

A black Schott Perfecto 613 leather motorcycle jacket with an off-centre zip, snap-down lapels, zipped pockets and a belted hem — A Schott Perfecto 613: off-centre zip, snap-down lapels, zipped pockets and a belted hem, the same plan as in 1928. Photo: Rundvald, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A vintage black Lewis Leathers Aviakit Bronx motorcycle jacket with a red quilted lining, zipped cuffs, a belt and round 59 patches — A vintage Lewis Leathers Aviakit Bronx, from the London maker the British rockers wore, with 59 Club patches. Photo: Timken Bearing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Nearly a hundred years later, that is still the jacket. Most of the bikers I find, from high street labels to designers, are built on the same plan.

Bikers come in two lengths. The classic one stops at the hip, where the belt sits, so it covers the small of the back on a motorbike. The cropped biker ends higher, at the waist or just above it. It is the fashion version: it shows off a high-waisted skirt or jeans, and it looks good open or zipped over a slim top.

Black leather biker jackets worn: a cropped biker with rows of studs over a rust dress, a fringed biker over jeans, and a classic belted biker — Three ways the biker is cut: cropped and studded (coming soon to the shop), fringed and the classic belted one (both sold).

Two black leather biker jackets laid flat, front and back: a classic one with an off-centre zip, snap-down lapels and belt, and a cropped studded one — Laid flat, front and back: the classic belted biker (sold) and the cropped studded one (coming soon). Look at the off-centre zip, the snap-down lapels and the belted hem.

How they became fashion

The biker went from workwear to rebellion in one film. In The Wild One (1953) Marlon Brando plays the leader of a motorcycle gang in a Schott Perfecto, and a generation of teenagers wanted one. James Dean and Elvis wore leather jackets too, and in the 1950s some American schools banned them.

Then the music took it over. In the late 1970s the Ramones wore black bikers on stage and on their album covers, with ripped jeans and sneakers, and punk made the jacket a uniform. Joan Jett and Debbie Harry wore them too. At the end of Grease (1978), Olivia Newton-John’s Sandy turns up in a black leather jacket, and that is the moment everyone remembers.

The four Ramones in 1977 standing against a brick wall in black leather biker jackets, T-shirts and ripped jeans — The Ramones in 1977: black bikers, T-shirts, ripped jeans and sneakers, the punk uniform. Photo: Danny Fields, *Rocket to Russia* press kit, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Elvis Presley in 1956 sitting on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in a black leather jacket, raising his cap — Elvis Presley on his Harley-Davidson in Memphis, January 1956, in a black leather jacket. Photo: Ted Bruehl, *The Enthusiast*, May 1956, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Elvis Presley's black leather motorcycle jacket with an off-centre zip and a belt, in a museum display case — Elvis Presley’s own leather motorcycle jacket, on loan from Elvis Presley Enterprises to The Beatles Story in Liverpool. Photo: Ank Kumar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A worn black 1950s leather biker jacket decorated with studs and badges, displayed in a museum case — A British rocker’s jacket from the 1950s, covered in studs and badges. Hastings Museum. Photo: Doyle of London, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The flight jacket had its film moment in Top Gun (1986), with Tom Cruise in a brown leather jacket covered in patches. In the 90s the black biker became part of off-duty model style, and Kate Moss made it look easy over a slip dress or with skinny jeans.

The sheepskin aviator came back in a big way in autumn 2010, when Christopher Bailey based Burberry’s winter collection on the label’s archive aviator jackets: cropped, oversized, belted, in brown and beige shearling. The high street copied it for years, and that is why so many cropped aviators turn up in vintage now.

Three rock outfits: a black leather biker with a pleated tartan mini and knee-high boots, a grey Lindarico jacket with a fur collar and suede boots, and a black fringed biker with jeans — The rock look today: a classic biker with a pleated mini and knee-high boots (sold), a grey Lindarico jacket with suede boots (available) and a fringed biker with jeans (sold).

Aviator, biker or bomber: how to tell them apart

Aviator: sheepskin or shearling, fleece inside and suede or leather outside, a big fleece collar, often straps or a belt at the collar and waist. Usually brown or tan. Hip length, cropped or longline.
Biker: smooth leather, an off-centre zip, wide lapels with snaps, a belt at the hem, zips at the cuffs and pockets. Usually black, cut close to the body and short at the waist.
Bomber: a straight front zip, ribbed knit at the cuffs and hem, a shirt collar or a ribbed one. The leather A-2 is a bomber; so is the nylon MA-1 from the 1950s.
Leather trench: a long coat, double-breasted, with a belt, epaulettes and a flap at the shoulder, cut in leather or suede instead of cotton gabardine.

Sellers mix the names up all the time, so look at the details, not the title. A cropped sheepskin jacket with a zip and a belt may be listed as a biker, an aviator or a bomber. If it has a fleece lining and a big fleece collar, it behaves like an aviator. If you are trying to decide between an aviator and a long shaggy coat, my Penny Lane and Afghan coat guide explains the difference.

Longline aviator or leather trench?

An aviator can be long. A longline aviator, sometimes sold as an aviator coat, keeps the big fleece collar and the fleece lining and simply runs down to the knee. It is still a sheepskin coat, made for warmth.

A trench is a different coat with a different story. It comes from the coats British officers wore in the trenches of the First World War, and you know it by the double-breasted front, the belt, the epaulettes and the storm flap at the shoulder. Cut one in leather or suede and you have a leather trench, a favourite of the 70s and of the late 90s, when Keanu Reeves wore a long black one in The Matrix (1999). Cut one in sheepskin and it is a shearling trench: warm like an aviator, shaped like a trench.

A leather trench fits like a coat, not like a biker. It is meant to go over a jacket or a knit, so most of them have room in the body, and the shoulders are the measurement to check.

Four leather jackets worn: a grey oversized leather jacket, a white perforated leather biker, a black studded biker and a black belted leather trench coat — Biker shapes, from relaxed to sharp, all available in the shop: an oversized grey Brooke Saddler leather jacket, a white perforated Frooty Beauty biker, a black studded Karen Millen biker and a belted New York & Company leather trench.

Three oversized leather bomber jackets worn: burgundy, brown and black, with ribbed hems — Bomber shapes: roomy leather bombers in burgundy, brown and black, gathered at the hem. **All sold.**

Real leather or faux?

Start with the label. “Genuine leather”, “lamb leather”, “cow leather” or “100% leather” on the composition label means real leather. “PU”, “polyurethane” or “100% polyester” with a coating means faux. If the label has been cut out, the jacket can still tell you:

The edge. Look at the inside of a pocket opening or a facing. Real leather has a fibrous, suede-like edge. Faux leather shows a woven or knitted fabric under a thin shiny layer.
The surface. Real leather has small, uneven pores and creases where it has been worn, especially at the elbows. Faux leather has a regular printed grain, and when it ages it peels or cracks in flakes.
The feel. Real leather warms up in your hands and folds softly. Lambskin is the softest and lightest; cowhide is heavier and stiffer and takes years to break in.
The smell. Real leather smells like leather, even after decades. Faux smells of plastic or nothing at all.

Faux is not a bad buy, as long as you know that is what you are buying. A good faux biker is light and easy to wear, and some of the best cuts of the 2000s were made in it. For shearling, the test is to part the fleece: real sheepskin shows skin at the roots. More checks, with photos of labels and hardware, are on our authentication page.

If you are buying from the high street, at least choose the version that lasts. Faux leather is plastic, PU or PVC on a fabric backing: it peels and cracks within a few years and cannot be recycled. Real leather can be worn for decades, repaired, conditioned and sold on to someone else. High street labels made real leather pieces too, and those are the ones worth finding second-hand, because they have already been made and still have years left in them.

Two black biker jackets compared: a Zara faux leather biker worn with a belt, both laid flat, and a New Look real suede leather biker worn with red trousers — Faux and real, side by side: a Zara faux leather biker (sold) and a New Look biker in real suede leather with a glossy croc finish, available in the shop.

How a leather jacket sizes

Leather does not stretch in the width the way knitwear does. Lambskin softens and moulds a little at the elbows and shoulders over the first winter, but a jacket that will not close across your chest will not learn to. So the two numbers that matter are the chest and the shoulders. Sleeves can sometimes be shortened; shoulders almost never can.

On the jackets I have measured this season, the label and the fit go apart in two different ways:

Fitted bikers run small. A Karen Millen lambskin biker labelled UK 8 measures 33 inches round the chest, with 14-inch shoulders. That is a jacket built to sit close over a T-shirt, not over a jumper.
Shearling runs small for a different reason. A longline sheepskin aviator marked UK 16 measures 44 inches round the chest, but the fleece takes up room inside. It fits a woman’s UK 12 to 14 or a man’s medium.
90s leather runs big. Many leather jackets from the 1990s were cut oversized, with dropped shoulders and room in the body. A grey Brooke Saddler jacket labelled M measures 45 inches round the chest.

To check a jacket, lay one of your own that fits well flat on a table and measure it armpit to armpit, then double it. Compare that with the listing. For a fitted biker over a T-shirt, look for 2 to 3 inches more than your bust; for an aviator over a chunky knit, 4 to 6. Our Will it fit? tool does this sum for you, and the size guide shows how we measure every piece.

A cropped brown sheepskin aviator laid flat front and back, with a tape measure across the chest, along the sleeve and down the length — Measuring the cropped sheepskin aviator: 24.5 inches armpit to armpit, so 49 inches round. The fleece is thick, so it fits a UK 12 to 14 with a relaxed shape.

Looking after vintage leather and shearling

Never in the washing machine. Wipe smooth leather with a barely damp cloth, and let it dry at room temperature, never on a radiator or in the sun.
Feed it. Once or twice a year, rub in a little leather conditioner with a soft cloth. Dry, older leather drinks it up, and cracks are much easier to prevent than to fix.
Rain. If it gets soaked, blot it, fill the shoulders with a towel and let it dry slowly on a wide hanger.
Suede and shearling. Brush the suede with a soft brush, use a suede eraser on marks, and take serious stains to a specialist leather cleaner.
Storage. A wide wooden hanger, a cotton cover rather than plastic, and space in the wardrobe so the collar is not crushed.

Our guide to washing vintage clothes and reading care labels explains the symbols on the label, and the Penny Lane guide has more on suede and shearling.

How to wear it

Biker over a dress. A black biker over a slip dress or a mini is the easiest night-out outfit there is. More ideas in our night out outfits guide.
Biker with jeans and boots. Low-rise flares or straight jeans, a white tee, knee-high boots. That is the Y2K version, and our Y2K guide has the rest of the look. For the boots, see our knee-high boots.
Aviator over knitwear. A shearling aviator is a winter coat. Wear it over a chunky knit or a polo neck, with jeans or a midi skirt, and turn the collar up.
Belt it, or leave it open. A cropped aviator looks best open with high-waisted trousers; a longline one can take a belt at the waist.

Two outfits and the pieces laid out: a cropped sheepskin aviator with a pleated mini and boots, a black leather biker over a rust dress, a black cashmere jumper, a black Alexander McQueen leather bag and flared True Religion jeans — From left: the cropped sheepskin aviator (available), a Day Birger et Mikkelsen leather jacket (coming soon), a Marilyn Moore black cashmere jumper and an Alexander McQueen Novak leather bag (both available), and custom True Religion jeans (sold).

What is on my rail now

See all our women’s leather jackets, the shearling and Afghan coats, our trench coats and the rest of our outerwear. Every piece is measured by hand and photographed on a real person.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between an aviator and a bomber jacket?

An aviator is made of sheepskin, with the fleece inside and a big fleece collar. A bomber has a straight zip and ribbed knit cuffs and hem. It can be leather, like the A-2, or nylon, like the MA-1.

Can an aviator jacket be long?

Yes. A longline aviator keeps the sheepskin, the fleece lining and the big collar, but reaches the knee. It is not the same as a leather trench, which is double-breasted and belted, with epaulettes, and usually has no fleece inside.

Is a biker jacket the same as a Perfecto?

The Perfecto is the original. Irving Schott designed it in New York in 1928, and today it is a Schott model name. “Biker jacket” is the general name for any jacket built on that plan: an off-centre zip, snap-down lapels and a belted hem.

How can I tell real leather from faux leather?

Check the composition label first. Without one, look at a cut edge: real leather is fibrous, while faux shows fabric under a coating. Real leather also has uneven pores, softens with wear and smells of leather. Faux peels or cracks as it ages.

Do leather jackets stretch?

Only a little. Lambskin moulds at the elbows and shoulders over time, but the chest will not grow. Buy a leather jacket that closes comfortably over what you will wear under it.

How should a shearling aviator fit?

Expect it to wear about a size smaller than the label, because of the fleece. Go by the chest measurement and allow 4 to 6 inches over your bust if you will wear a jumper under it.

How do I clean a vintage leather jacket?

Wipe it with a barely damp cloth, let it dry slowly away from heat and condition it once or twice a year. Suede and shearling need brushing and a specialist cleaner for stains. Never use the washing machine.