Tiers of Leather Jacket Makers

What companies do you consider to be top tier, mid tier and low tier in terms of leather jackets? Would be good to compile all the data in one place to help everyone.

Tiers are HIGHLY subjective. It’s not as efficient as a list but the best thing to do is spend some time here reading. Most makers are covered and you can get opinions on pros and cons from different members.

I don't have any top tier jackets, but I think Lost Worlds would be considered top tier. Also Bates, Langlitz. For sure, Lost Worlds and Bates CHP are my "Grail" jackets! I don't know if I'll ever get my hands on them, but one can dream, right?

Mid tier would be Schott, Vanson, Fox Creek, Cockpit USA, Gibson & Barnes. Can't go wrong with any of these.

Low tier would be San Diego Leather, Hillside USA. These are good for "beater" jackets.

And of course, there are plenty of "fashion" leather jackets, mostly in low tier and low quality but some name brands with very high prices. I've always steered clear of these because they're pretty much useless.

I never got an Aero, so I can't really say. They seem to have an outstanding reputation on Fedora Lounge. They're probably mid tier. One thing that I don't like is that I hear a lot about Aero's zippers being too small and failing prematurely. That's a deal breaker for me. I want my jackets durable. Zippers should never fail.

I've got several "Beck" jackets in horsehide from Legendary USA. These were when they first started doing their Beck jackets a few years ago and I really like them. They're mid tier jackets. I have zero complaints. But I'm not going to order from them again. First off, the pics on their website have changed a lot since I ordered. The current BECK jackets don't look as good to me. Not sure what's going on. Perhaps they changed manufacturers and they order jackets in small batches. Someone said the pics are AI generated. Secondly, people have been complaining about their business practices and that the owner is not a good person. So do your due diligence before ordering.