The London Leatherman archive is a continuous fascination to fashion historians and collectors, with pieces being unearthed around the world all the time, often by chance and sometimes in the most unlikely of places by both long time collectors and those who have come to know the label more recently.

Garments or accessories that can be referenced back to old LLM catalogues or to pictures of someone iconic wearing it is always a thrill. But, it’s the rare and one-off items that are really exciting and give so much insight into Kens talent for style and leather work that continues to inspire designers and the clothing industry today.

What comes with finding these rarer items is the frequent question: when do you think this was made?

Without a direct reference like a picture or purchase receipt it’s usually by the zips used or the leather grade that you can tell an approximate year. Very early LLM was made using a thin leather that would crease like fabric, the early to mid 70s LLM used a lot of waxed cow hide leather that had an identifiable shine to it, thick enough for a motorcycle burn-time whilst very wearable for fashion and very similar to the leather we use for the collection today. In the late 70s the hide gets a little thicker with a bit more of a textured grain to it and changes again in the 80s when Ken was mostly using Connolly hide and high quality nappa. But sometimes you need to look beyond the obvious when looking to date something.

The archive jacket pictured here is a unique reference for establishing a date. This black zip would usually indicate late 70s or 80s, it has unique design details not seen on any catalogue items, the leather is thin, pure fashion and it’s from the leather we were able to estimate that this rare jacket was made between 1987 & 1989. The only other items we’ve come across made in this leather are the items made for the Vivienne Westwood A/W 1988 Time Machine collection, including the famous armour jackets designed by Vivienne made at LLM, amongst other items put into the collection (i.e men’s double breasted frock coat, jeans, a waistcoat).

Perhaps a one off or one of a small run of jackets, this archive piece is another wonderful example of Ken’s self taught and highly skilled craftsmanship.

Rather than email us about the archive, why not comment on this post below so others can contribute their thoughts too.

This jacket has recently been treated with a leather conditioner to preserve the leather and photographed in natural light so colour may differ IRL.