The London Leatherman LT2 T-shirt made from leather and identifiable by the zip detail at the side and at the collar was first intended as a garment for the underground fetish scene. But, in the late 1960s with the fashion elite on the Kings Road, Chelsea choosing to wear their The London Leatherman pieces on the street and not just behind closed doors the LT2 T-shirt transcended into the glam rock, soul boy, punk rock, motorcycle and disco style genres.
The London Leatherman LT2 Leather T-shirt £385
Designed by Ken (Heddle Law Magson) in the late 60s to be fitted and unlined so that the leather sits against the skin, this garment, like our leather jeans is designed to mould uniquely to the owners shape as they wear the leather in. The working zips on the left side and left collar are for getting in and out of the garment
David Johansen & David Bowie, NYC 1974. Photographer Bob Gruen
It was around 1972 that Malcolm McLaren took an interest in The London Leatherman and in the time before and when McLaren managed the band the New York Dolls he dressed them in a lot of The London Leatherman items including the LT2 T-shirt. We’ve included above the picture by photographer Bob Gruen of singer David Johansen wearing the LT2 T-shirt in black leather, he also owned it in red leather.
Much to the horror of the fetish (in particular the gay fetish) scenes it was Malcom McLaren and Dame Vivienne Westwood who made the LT2 T-shirt ‘Punk’ (We’ll cover in more detail the transition from fetish to punk in a following blog post). Pictures below of Vivienne wearing the LT2 T-shirt are by photographers Ray Stevenson (Vivienne side of stage) and Ian Dickson (Vivienne with Sid Vicious).
Dame Vivienne Westwood 1976 at a Sex Pistols gig. Photographer Ray Stevenson.
Dame Vivienne Westwood & Sid Vicious 1976 at a Sex Pistols gig. Photographer Ian Dickson.
Adam Ant wearing The London Leatherman LT2 T-shirt. Photographer unknown.
Customers could purchase the LT2 T-shirt from The London Leatherman mail order catalogues or from The London Leatherman workshop directly, the LT2 T-shirt was also sold in the boutiques Granny Takes A Trip, Mr. Freedom, Let It Rock, SEX amongst many others. When these shops bought enough pieces from The London Leatherman their own branded label would be sewn into the garment instead of the black and white The London Leatherman label, these boutiques would often sell The London Leatherman items with both labels and a lot of the time no label.
Page from The London Leatherman catalogue 1975.
Illustration from The London Leatherman mail order catalogue 1972.
The t-shirt in a classic cut and a cap sleeve version was available in The London Leatherman catalogues from 1970 through to the mid 1980s. Today we offer the classic cut, made-to-order waxed sheep’s leather on WWW.THELONDONLEATHERMAN.COM