What's the real deal with Sam Walker jackets?

[HoosierDaddy]

........... indeed I sent my Sam Walker Barnstormer to Aero to have the lining re-stitched at the bottom .... and was told that it was in fact manufactured BY AERO ....

So to hear that Ken and Holly both denied this is interesting to say the least .....

Out of curiosity...just when and who at Aero informed you that your Sam Walker labeled jacket was actually made by Aero..??
Now that is interesting to say the least.....

 

[Sir Jacket]

I remember when Sam Walker was selling Aero jackets, back in the 90s. In fact, that's where I got my first fix. As far as I remember, they had the same Aero label. There was a whole basement room of the things -- smelled wonderful. And Sam Walker put out a great little, retro-looking catalogue of, not only the jackets, but also the whole range of shoes, jumpers etc that Aero (I think; not Sam Walker) used to do. Would make a welcome return. Then Sam Walker stopped selling jackets altogether; the shop shrunk in size, started selling second-hand mainly tat and then a few years ago disappeared. SJ

 

[rocketeer]

Looks like this thread is going to get slightly out of hand.
My honest opinion is that they[Sam walker] are reasonable jackets and not rubbish but not quite up to Aero's standard.
If the jacket was indeed made by Aero and had a Sam Walker label replaced, it would be in the sellers interest to remove it and advertise it as Aero as to keep the Sam Walker label in most cases will give a lower winning price if on auction sites. Though mine had the "Best Leather etc" label sewn as a fold where the two lining panels join at the sides.
The first thing my Mrs said when she saw my Sam W Highwayman was "looks like that old wet suit you have for snorkelling". No I doubt it would have got through Aero's quality control, especially with the wonky stitching and rubber look.

 

[handymike]

It seems that most issues were with black jackets; am I right? Brown and tan ones seem to have been ok. I also noticed that the better quality Highwayman jackets were marked SWH-2 on the little hip size tag.
Can anyone confirm if they really are Horse or Steer though?

 

[Edward]

Can anyone confirm if they really are Horse or Steer though?

lol

 

[wild_balls]

Here we go again!

 

[handymike]

I didn't really mean to do that!

 

[wild_balls]

I was very surprised over the high price it went for on Ebay! I was afraid not getting my money back as it was quite expensive the first time!
Hope the new owner gets satisfied. Handymike, I think most of us with horsehide jackets has thoughts about horse or steer!


Cheers Joakim

 

[majormajor]

I was very surprised over the high price it went for on Ebay!

Please don't take this as a criticism, because it is not meant that way - merely an observation.

If you put the word Aero in the description of a jacket, many prospective buyers will assume that Aero had at least something to do with the manufacture of said jacket.

Maybe this thread should have taken place BEFORE, rather than during and after the listing.

As the lawyers say - buyer beware. Many folks add embellishments to their descriptions on Ebay. And as you've found out, Joakim, they work!

 

[Mr Badger]

I've got two Sam Walker jackets – a 'Highwayman' and a 'Barnstormer', both black and bought off Ebay for £50 & £75... the 'Highwayman' is very good quality leather, with a slight grey-ish cast, a Talon zipper and thick green tartan lining, and the aforementioned 'SW H2' label:

The 'Barnstormer', meanwhile, is hella heavy and does look kinda 'rubberised' – suffice to say, I don't wear it often.

Overall, it does irk me that this issue never seems to have been resolved – i.e. did Aero ever make jackets that Sam Walker 're-badged' as their own... from my perspective, I appear to have purchased a 're-badged' or at least comparable quality jacket in the 'Highwayman', and one of the inferior knock-offs with the 'Barnstormer'.

 

[Plumbline]

Spoke to Amanda at Alexanders today who in turn spoke to Will and Johnny ... they didn't remember my Barnstormer .... BUT their recollection ( albeit hazy) is that those jackets Aero made for Sam Walker ( and they seem to recall making jackets with the Sam Walker label in them in the 90's) had BOTH the Aero and the Sam Walker Label ..... so the suspiscion would be that the Aero label was removed retaining the Sam Walker label.

Why would it be removed ... I have NO IDEA.

Interesting though ........

 

[wild_balls]

None taken, it was put as reference to the model and to those who already own an Aero highwayman for the sizing. This thread started after the auction end. I think most people out hunting for these kind of jackets already have a lot of knowledge. Sorry, this was meant as an answer to majormajor

Cheers Joakim

 

[majormajor]

I think most people out hunting for these kind of jackets already have a lot of knowledge.

The folks who read these forums AND ply Ebay would indeed have "a lot" of knowledge. However, I have two good friends who are both into Aero quality jackets who have never been on here, and never will.

The vast majority of Ebay buyers, naively, expect the description to be accurate

 

[hpalapdog]

I remember visiting the Walker shop in Covent Garden. The jackets were definitely made of Horween Chromexcel leather. A much later visit and the jackets had morphed into the sort of jackets being made by London's east end south Asian community. Same Aero designs but standard cowhide leathers and not that nice. The mark I's were made by Aero. It's possible not many were sold. Anyone north of the border saying different has a short memory

The shop rents in Covent Garden are amongst the highest in the World. It must of been difficult to make enough profit on the Aero made stuff.

During this period a shop in Oxford st. also sold Aero FQHH jackets. This was before the Aero website was running.

 

[handymike]

It's interesting Mr. Badger how your's says "genuine quality leather" and not "Hide" like some....
But I suppose the SWH 1 & SWH 2 labels are the ones to look for....
Now if we could just figure out how the sizing works....
It's so hard to nail these things down when a place has been Out of Business for a decade, and "shopping" proves pricey if you don't make the money back- I lost $50 on mine when My seller had mis-measured and wouldn't take a return.
Thanks again for all the input.
It's good to have for the future as up til now, everything I read was about the politics and not the coats.

 

[Edward]

Please don't take this as a criticism, because it is not meant that way - merely an observation.

If you put the word Aero in the description of a jacket, many prospective buyers will assume that Aero had at least something to do with the manufacture of said jacket.

Maybe this thread should have taken place BEFORE, rather than during and after the listing.

As the lawyers say - buyer beware. Many folks add embellishments to their descriptions on Ebay. And as you've found out, Joakim, they work!

It's technically in breach of eBay rules, I believe, but somewhat inevitably a lot of folks do list "like Aero, Eastman, Buzz Rickson etc" in their Auction titles - some even say "NOT Aero, Eastman, Buzz Rickson etc". I'm sure some of the former do so for genuine reasons, while some of the former and I think all the latter are really only trying to up their search returns hit rate! Some of the really big brands (Fender guitars being one I know of, Rickenbacker another) are very hot on clamping down o this sort of thing. Others aren't. I suppose to some extent it is a measure of the high regard in which Aero are held as a brand... Won't it be fun when the first Alexander Leathers hit the used market - "Alexander Leathers, Like Aero Highwayman...." lol

I remember visiting the Walker shop in Covent Garden. The jackets were definitely made of Horween Chromexcel leather. A much later visit and the jackets had morphed into the sort of jackets being made by London's east end south Asian community. Same Aero designs but standard cowhide leathers and not that nice. The mark I's were made by Aero. It's possible not many were sold. Anyone north of the border saying different has a short memory

I don't think anyone up there has ever said they didn't make them at all, but rather that they never made jackets for Sam Walker that carried only the Sam Walker brand, with no Aero markings. To relabel them would seem an odd choice now, but then I don't know how big the Aero reputation was back then. Remember, we're talking about a pre-web era where you didn't have places like this forming, for want of a better way of putting it, "fan networks" which have a word of mouth effect on promoting a brand.

 

[pipvh]

I remember Aero jackets in Sam Walker: first just labelled 'Aero,' then Aero with SW, then just SW. I'm pretty sure there was a time when the jackets labelled SW were still made by Aero - they sold Irvins as well. I bought a Highwayman in 1997 but ended up getting it around the corner at American Classics because, as I recall, the SW jackets were a bit more expensive and it could be that there had already been a drop-off in quality by then. Which is likely because, as someone else said, there was a rather unlikely shop on Oxford Street selling Aero alongside some really atrocious 'buttery soft' schmatta, as well as American Classics. Of course this is unreliable history - the only thing I completely remember is walking back home in my new jacket with the Halle-Bopp comet slashed across the London sky, ergo 1997...

 

[rocketeer]

I bought my first FqHorse Highwayman from a shop in Oxford Street. The shop used to sell Avirex I believe and at that time also sold 'Urban hip hop' clothing. The manager was a Turkish guy and the shop was at the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street.

 

[regius]

here's one, 46, look at the high sleeve cap/low armhole, how could you move? http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-SAM...RSEHIDE-LEATHER-COAT-SZ-46-RARE-/222370008229

 

[regius]

I bought my first FqHorse Highwayman from a shop in Oxford Street. The shop used to sell Avirex I believe and at that time also sold 'Urban hip hop' clothing. The manager was a Turkish guy and the shop was at the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street.

I've been there, that was the first place I witnessed Schott jackets (right at the beginning when I got into leather jackets).