Addict leather jackets

[Lit Up]

Sure. I could spend £1340 (more if in the USA) on a poor facsimile of a jacket in standard sizes or I could go to the actual manufacturer, get sized up and choose all kinds of varieties of leathers, hides and colours, made to measure, for around £850.

 

[handymike]

So, price is your issue? Not quality or hides or construction?

 

[handymike]

I prefer side by side comparisons to rants. A straitforward review would help us all out.

 

[Lit Up]

I have given you my thread and you can read it. I'm not tailoring my responses just for you.

Also your request is absurd, it would require me to purchase both jackets. I ain't sending my hard earned ££ anywhere near Addict. How about you blow your money on one and then I'll post my Cyclone

Ciao.

 

[Mich486]

As owner of a LL I must say that it wouldn’t be difficult to beat the quality of their horsehide. Nothing special really.

It doesn’t seem unreal that Addict would use better hides. To me Addict jackets look like excellent copies. Would I pay more for a good copy when I can have an original at almost half the price? I don’t know now but I didn’t at the time.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lit Up]

If you don't know then you probably wouldn't, right? For me *the most important thing* is the fit of a jacket and I like being sized up accurately for these things. There's no way I would spend a ton of money on a jacket and not have it made to measure. The Addict leather is nothing to write home about. LL's is a nice hide, not too heavy, will break in nicely and quickly and have an excellent patina in no time. Also LL is the only major brand which will do you horsehides in bright orange, two shades of turqoise, bright yellow etc and it's the coloured hides which for me really bring out the special qualities and make a Lewis like no other. If you're looking for heavy hides then go for an aero

 

[Mich486]

Nope I couldn’t care less about heavy hides or bright orange jackets.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ton312]

The LL @red devil posted certainly didn't look light weight...it would stand on it's own. I think the thing here that's being questioned is why buy a copy when the original is very much alive and well. Personally I would not but I wouldn't fault someone who would, if for whatever reason the copy somehow was better suited to their needs. IMHO the Addict jackets don't look as good (from the photos I've seen) and nor do the fits. And I have to admit, from a personal perspective, I bristle at the notion that somehow "Made in Japan" implies some sort of mystical quality leap.

 

[red devil]

This thread moved fast today

To keep things simple, @Lit Up not sure if you saw it, but there is a meet up to go visit among other things the Lewis Leather shop on the 8th of December, details here:
https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/london-outerwear-meetup-8th-of-december.95369/
We would love to have you there so we could exchange opinions on jackets and makers.

As a new owner of a LL jacket, I am happy, the leather is mid-weight a tad under 2.2kg/4.85lbs (I use fish scales since that thread about jacket weights came up, great idea!). The vintage Turquoise colour is for some reason stiffer than the other ones, hence why it could stand with some attention (had to find the right balance). I don't think the black one could stand as it did feel softer.

 

[Mich486]

Yep my black horsehide Cyclone didn’t stand on his own when new although honestly what does that really say? I’m perfectly happy with it being midweight, although there definitely are better midweight horsehides (I think Vicenza is much better and if I had to do it again I’d go sheepskin which is their trademark hide really).

That said, LL designs are so unique that one I believe buys the look more than anything else when going for one of them. I just love their designs which are clearly so different from anything else. Of course at around £800 one wants also some quality. I’m perfectly happy on how my jacket turned out especially the fit. All in all I just have good words for them but the horsehide they use is not yet up there with the best.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[handymike]

The aged jacket is definitely sheepskin and I believe in the colour called British race green while the new one is green horsehide. The light also plays its part.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Amazing Green is indeed Veg Tanned Sheep. I might be ordering a Dominator in this soon without logo, and with the beige zippertapes. I'll have to make a trip to Venice Beach to check them out in person first, but @konadog's jacket came out very well...so...

 

[dannyk]

Ive always found the standing on its own thing fascinating. Ive always felt it has more to do with how its tanned and finished than weight. Ive seen super heavy hides that would just crumple to the ground, and Ive also seen super thin ones that have been tanned/finished in such a way they are soooo stiff they stand on their own.

 

[ton312]

Ive always found the standing on its own thing fascinating. Ive always felt it has more to do with how its tanned and finished than weight. Ive seen super heavy hides that would just crumple to the ground, and Ive also seen super thing ones that have been tanned/finished in such a way they are soooo stiff they stand on their own.

That's definitely true...Vansons z 150 is a relatively thin hide but is super stiff initially and will certainly stand on it's own.

 

[Mich486]

The Amazing Green is indeed Veg Tanned Sheep. I might be ordering a Dominator in this soon without logo, and with the beige zippertapes. I'll have to make a trip to Venice Beach to check them out in person first, but @konadog's jacket came out very well...so...

Yep sheepskin I think it’s the way to go with LL. That green surely looks cool [emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[red devil]

Yep sheepskin I think it’s the way to go with LL. That green surely looks cool [emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Will keep this in mind for future possibilities as well

 

[dannyk]

Yep sheepskin I think it’s the way to go with LL. That green surely looks cool [emoji41]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’m starting to feel more this way than ever before. As in Langlitz specialize in goat. So why not goat from them? LL is sheep so get sheep from them. Vanson is about comp. weight cow get that from them. Aero whip there cow is highly underrated we know they are about fqhh. If you follow this you’ll eventually have all the top makers in a variety of styles and hides. It took me years to finally accept something so simple. But I’m more than ever thinking this is the way to go.

 

[Winthorpe]

I have owned an Addict Clothes jacket for about a month now. It’s an AD-10 (a 1950’s Belstaff Trialmaster copy) in Black horsehide with a removable Melton wool liner vest.

The quality of the materials used as well as the craftsmanship and execution of all the details is excellent. Before the AD-10 I owned an Aero Sheene and have handled several jackets from RMC, Freewheelers, the Flat Head, Tenjn Works and Iron Heart. I feel that Addict Clothes is a notch above Aero Leathers and on-par with the Japanese makers I listed. It truly is a superb jacket.

All materials are sourced from within Japan. The horsehide is combination tanned (heavy on veg, low on chrome) to achieve the particular characteristics Addict Clothes is looking for to achieve what they call “New Vintage”. It’s more pliable than Horween FQHH while still being substantial. It reminds me of the Shinki hides I’ve seen but has a more defined grain than the hides that RMC is using. It’s stunning to look at and feels great to touch. It has a certain give without feeling spongy (if that makes any sense…).

Here are 2 close-up shots:

The stitching is superb too as you can see in the pictures above. This is a very complex jacket that is hard to make (well) out of horsehide. All the flaps of the exterior pockets are doubled up. It is had to tell initially as it is executed so well. The cutting of the leather is perfect. The lower piece is just a notch smaller than the top piece (and equally so along the entire edge).

The liner material is 100% cotton and feels great too. Kind of like some of the Japanese flannel cloths used by Gitman Vintage for their shirts. It is soft to touch yet still substantial. The details of the interior pocket are very well executed. It’s backed by a leather strip and lined with brown corduroy.

Everything is 100% symmetric and straight. The Addict Clothes label is placed plumb straight and there are no loose threads anywhere.

I have posted a full review (also linked at the beginning of this thread) here.

 

[Winthorpe]

There are also a couple of reviews and pictures of Addict Clothes jackets on Styleforum. They have a great following in Japan and Asia (Korea, China, Taiwan, ...), but more recently started having stockists in Europe as well (UK, Germany, France, ...).

They do larger sizes up to 48 for overseas customers and you can customize the sleeve length as well (for an extra cost). Their owner, Satoshi Ishijima, speaks English well. It takes about 4 months to get a jacket made (they do stock some jackets in smaller sizes for the Japanese market).

The fit of the jackets is tailored towards the Japanese body as well as lengthy, slim Europeans in the taller sizes. It's not a good fit for the average American build.