In the world of fashion, the fabrics and materials used to make the garments are of vital importance to achieve the desired effects according to the designs that have been created, since each model requires specific properties of the fabric to achieve certain characteristic of the garment; so the texture and thickness, are definitely the ones that mark the guidelines to follow in the manufacturing process.
Thus, materials such as “leather”, characterized by its coarse texture and lustre, has been used by designers to create a diversity of garments that had established standards in the fashion world. However, garments made with leather are not so comfortable or practical, considering the movement and styling needed by women nowadays. Because of this, certain types of leather have been processed in special ways, to give them greater flexibility and ability to be moulded, in order to facilitate the making of certain garments.
The biggest use of leather is focused in making shoes, jackets and bags, without leaving aside pants, dresses and skirts, however, this type of clothes are used for modern and causal look, since the leather characteristics hardly allows to be used in sophisticated dresses designs and outfits that require more fluidity and movement.
Therefore, although leather can be stylish and help women look neat and elegant, it has been mostly used for more practical purposes, hence the piece that has had more boom over time has been the jacket, which we are going to talk a little of its history later on.
It should be noted that since ancient times the use of materials of strong and thick textures such as “leather”, have been basic in the development of garments usually focused on men, for example, the Romans, used to make war attires with it, because of its hardness and resistance, that protected them from the cold and enemy’s attacks, as well as they elaborated footwear and utility bags.
In the early twentieth century, specifically in the early 1900s, leather was used to make jackets that were mostly worn by aviators and members of the army to protect themselves from the cold, and during the First World War they added padded parts and thick collars to increase the body protection.
After the First World War, the 20s by now, leather jackets became famous, acquiring people’s acceptance, due to in the basement of a building that was located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York, the brothers Irving and Jack Shott, children of Russian immigrants, were engaged in making coats that could protect from the rain, they began to design clothes that could provide protection for motorcyclists from any contingency while driving their innovative vehicles.
It is important to note that this design became increasingly popular, after its creators managed to communicate with the owner of the motorcycle brand “Harley Davidson”, which served to project the image of this functional and practical jacket, with large Padded shoulder straps, zippers and asymmetric pockets crossed, giving you the title of model “perfect motorcycle jacket’, which is a name of “perfect ” referring to the “Cuban cigar “, which was among one of the preferences of Harley Davidson.
The leather jacket was ideal for the use of the growing culture of motorcyclists or bikers, protecting them from the climate they had to face every day and wearing a bold, rebellious and striking look.
Later in the 40s, during World War II, the famous leather jackets used in the past were called “bombing jackets”, increased protection with sheep skin fodder, to become fundamental pieces during the development of this war that lasted 5 years.
At the end of World War II, and over the years, leather jackets became a dizzying and popular piece for most motorcyclists; so many Hollywood stars of the moment began to wear it as a symbol of rebellion and defiant youth with an arrogant counterculture.
For these reasons, this garment was selected as costume for the main character in the movie The Wild One, known in Spanish as “Salvaje”, directed by Laslo Benedeck and starring one of the famous gallants of the time, Marlon Brando, who wore it with a lot of masculinity and sex appeal that attracted the attention of women; with which the leather began to be used more frequently to create garments with a special and attractive and less functional styling.
Another famous actor who adopted leather jackets as basic clothes in his wardrobe was James Dean, who used to combine it with a white shirt, managing to capture the attention of youth, however, it was banned in many colleges and universities, because it was alleged that it transmitted negative messages to young people; to which the majority did not pay attention to him and they continued using it, resorting to diverse combinations with jeans and very casual garments.
Already by the decade of the sixties, the famous and acclaimed designer Yves Saint Laurent, became the creative par excellence of Christian Dior, and began to use leather in his creations, incorporating new cuts and materials, such as crocodile leather and animal hair.
In the late sixties and during the 70s, the leather jacket became the quintessential garment of the world of rock n ‘roll, being used by singers like Elvis Presley and famous bands like The Doors, The Clash and Rolling Stones, among others, being the symbol that represented youthful rebellion.
Thus, the leather jacket opened the doors and the field of possibilities to other garments, but she came to stay, becoming an important garment in the closet of any modern woman, leaving aside the cliché of functional garment and give it step in the world of fashion as a garment able to highlight the beauty of women, which was demanded by the masses, because the leather jacket has been seen as a cultural icon.
As we see, the use of leather at the beginning was completely away from styling and femininity, prevailing its use for practical activities, without this implying that in the future it would not be used for the design of other finer garments that women could wear, considering that basically the ladies of the past decades only wore leather shoes and bags, which were valued for their strength and beauty.
As a result, little by little leather garments have been gaining space in the fashion industry, and are capable of styling any garment to look cool and elegant, being able to be adapted to countless occasions, with wonderful combinations which can include both the famous jackets and skirts, pants, shoes, bags and accessories, in this faithful material that is currently presented in different types, colours, textures, degrees of flexibility, thanks to the boom and advances in technology.
Thus, leather is being used on a large scale to create dream collections, with the “biker jacket” or motorized jacket remaining as a basic piece, as the favourite in the wardrobe of women and men today.
This has been recurrent in the competitive world of fashion, to the point that the French designer, Hedi Slimane, between 2012 and 2016, while serving as creative director of Saint Laurent, selected this piece as an element that could not missing in their collections, achieving great acceptance by lovers of the catwalks, due to its versatility and classic design, which have made their pieces are always in force.
In this way, leather dresses any modern woman, filling it with a mysterious, magical and current air, which is achieved of course, knowing how to combine the garments, especially if it is a good black leather jacket or dark tones, that accompanied by jeans and boots, will make them look splendid.
Now, if you want to use them during the night, you can do it using a cocktail dress to combine and give styling and femininity, which in turn could need metallic high heels, makeup with red lips and Cleopatra style eyes, that will make them look challenging, modern and exquisite.
Also, you could choose to wear leather pants, which are extremely elegant and practical if combined properly, either maintaining a style “total black”, combined with a leather jacket, black shoes and bag, giving a contrast if Wearing a white blouse or a light tone, although many women prefer to wear only black leather pants and combine with other colours and textures, it is a matter of trying different alternatives that make them look and feel elegant, modern and comfortable.
However, it is known that the use of leather pants is sometimes complicated, due to the cowboy style which limits many women who do not risk easily, although it should be noted that these have become one of the most used garments by Modern girls who love fashion.
Not to mention leather shoes and bags, which have always been considered elegant and very combinable, becoming essential accessories to go to fashion.
Therefore, leather as a material for making garments, although in the beginning it was used for practical and functional purposes, preferably for men, little by little it was positioning itself in the world of fashion, for today to be considered indispensable by many designers and women around the world.
ALFA