Lewis Leathers detective work needed

[Madhouse27]

I recently received this pre-owned jacket that was advertised as a men’s Lewis Leathers sheep leather Cyclone. I’ve always thought that Lewis Leathers was a cool, iconic brand but I’ve never owned one and admittedly don’t know much about their various models. Looking at their website, the zippers on this jacket differ from the current Cyclone and there is also a lack of side adjusters and this one uses letter sizing (in this case L). I know they do some custom stuff and maybe models get tweaked a bit, but something seems a little fishy despite the otherwise high quality feel of the thing. Is there someone here that could sort out real or fake, men’s or women’s etc. Thanks here’s a few pics.

 

[jchance]

What exactly feels “fishy” to you? We have never come across a fake Lewis Leather, but it’s possible to move the LL tags (both the fabric and the leather logo) onto a different leather jacket to upsell the jacket.

 

[Madhouse27]

What exactly feels “fishy” to you? We have never come across a fake Lewis Leather, but it’s possible to move the LL tags (both the fabric and the leather logo) onto a different leather jacket to upsell the jacket.

Again, my eye is pretty untrained when it comes to Lewis Leathers but the lack of dangly zippers and the missing extra collar snap kind of stood out as potential red flags. Here‘s a current pic from the LL site.

 

[AerGuitar]

I had thought Lewis used Lightning and Clix zips instead of YKK, but I could be way off. I’ve only owned one Lewis and it was ordered new in 2021.

 

[Jasonissm]

This looks really dodgy, the stitch quality seems really bad. The logo patch seems way bigger than usual, the liner looks cheap, the tag looks different from the ones I've seen, which would be 2 separate ones. Also that fabric composition tag looks very dodgy too. Size L tag also seems fishy since I thought they only go by numbered sizing for their standard models, their collaborations and stuff can go alpha size but not this model I think.

 

[AerGuitar]

^^^ yeah, the logo patch does look a bit odd…. Size, logo itself, lack of metallic in the gold printing, and stitch pattern all look different from what I’ve seen, but again, I’m definitely NOT a Lewis expert!

^ patch on my previously owned Dominator

 

[Madhouse27]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I’m going to attempt to return it. This was a good will dot com listing so any inaccuracies in the description were certainly not intentional on their part. They got it for nothing…I hope it works out.

In hindsight, I should have done my Lewis Leathers research BEFORE I bid on it. I don’t mind $100 lessons and have given a few of those away, but this was enough to pursue a refund for an item that was not as advertised.

 

[Tom71]

I agree that this is not according to current specs.
Best way would be to resch out to LL and let them judge if it can be an older set-up. Patch size and zippers should be easy to pin down.

 

[Madhouse27]

Update, the seller (Goodwill of Columbus) agreed to a full refund and even sent a return shipping label. Great service! Thanks for your help on this one.

 

[Edward]

Definitely not to current specs - which replicate the original 1973 design. It's theoretically plausible that there was some change in the 80s era when Lewis weren't what that had been (or became again after Derek sorted them), but Occam's Razor would suggest that this is another, cheaper jacket in the style of Lewis that has had labels added to pass it off as one. I'd be fairly confident it's a fake myself.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Great that they accepted your return request. It's nice leather jacket - but to my eyes immediately does not look real. Lining isn't Lewi's standard Red quilted lining, the stitching & tags look off, the YKK hardware is not consistent with what I have seen on a Lewis, and the "L" tag up into the collar just say's "reproduction - from other place". The main tag also does not look right.

Also look at the waistband on your jacket verses the actual LL Cyclone (2nd pic) -

It also appears there are no waist adjustment straps -

These two photos show the vast back differences - the panel sizes, etc.

Again, not a bad jacket overall, and when you see what the new Lewis Leathers Cyclone is today (1200 Euro / ~ 1365 USD I can see why trying one out for a few hundred would be attractive...

 

[Monitor]

100% fake. Not as bad as some of the others that I've seen but still quite atrocious. Made in Pakistan, by the look of it.

 

[Edward]

Great that they accepted your return request. It's nice leather jacket - but to my eyes immediately does not look real. Lining isn't Lewi's standard Red quilted lining, the stitching & tags look off, the YKK hardware is not consistent with what I have seen on a Lewis, and the "L" tag up into the collar just say's "reproduction - from other place". The main tag also does not look right.

View attachment 706493

Also look at the waistband on your jacket verses the actual LL Cyclone (2nd pic) -

View attachment 706496

It also appears there are no waist adjustment straps -

View attachment 706497

These two photos show the vast back differences - the panel sizes, etc.

Again, not a bad jacket overall, and when you see what the new Lewis Leathers Cyclone is today (1200 Euro / ~ 1365 USD I can see why tying one out for a few hundred would be attractive...

Lewis did do some jackets with a black liner in the 70s, but combined with all the other issues you raise, it points towards fake here.

100% fake. Not as bad as some of the others that I've seen but still quite atrocious. Made in Pakistan, by the look of it.

Ifvit was originally sold retail in the UK from at least 1990 onwards, more than likely made in Pakistan. Quite a few jackets made there were very decentvin those days, but certainly nver did, or do, command Lewis money.