Our 6 Favorite Japanese Leather Brands
There are plenty of things in life that you can count on to improve with age. Wine, denim, vinyl, vintage guitars. But few age quite as well as leather. Whether it’s a jacket, a bag, a pair of boots, or even a belt, nothing benefits more from time and wear than something made from high quality leather. It’s pretty much what the word “patina” was invented for. Of course, that being said, beautifully aged leather still requires a beautiful — and more importantly well-executed — starting point. Which is where Japan’s top leather brands come in.
With their incredible attention to detail, not to mention their relentless commitment to wabi-sabi, Japan’s top leather companies are turning out some of the best leather jackets, shoes, and accessories in the world. Working in everything from steer hide, to kip leather, to deer skin, to horse butt, and featuring high-end processes like vegetable tanning and Horween chromexcel (a mix of vegetable tanning and chrome tanning), it’s hard to top the leather works coming out of Japan. And here are six of our favorite brands to prove it.
Fine Creek Leathers
For handmade horse hide jackets that truly capture the vibe of vintage Americana, look no further than Fine Creek. Founded in Tokyo by designer Yoshikatsu Yamazaki, Fine Creek is a brand that takes classic American style leather jackets — think The Ramones or Marlon Brando in The Wild One — and reimagines them with a more streamlined, contemporary fit. Every jacket they make uses the finest horsehide available, and is meticulously constructed by hand. Which ensures that they will not only develop an amazing patina over time, but will be incredibly durable for the long haul.
Tenjin Works
At Tenjin Works, a Tokyo-based brand that specializes in made-to-order natural leather goods, the aging of leather is almost a spiritual affair. Founded in 2006 by former art student Hideto Takagi, Tenjin’s range of jackets, shoes and accessories (wallets, belts, lanyards, key chains, and even leather coasters) all feature natural, full vegetable tanned leather that starts off with a light, almost pinkish hue, and, with time, develops into a deep, rich caramel. Tenjin offers a range of colors as well, but all using their proprietary natural veg-tanning, so even the dyed leathers will eventually develop a rich, darkened patina over time.
Attractions
If a bunch of teenagers from the 1950s traveled through time to discover modern street style, you’d have Attractions. Or, as the brand describes it, a blending of modern influences with youth culture from the early 20th century. And while Attractions — based in the Harajuku neighborhood of Tokyo — features a range of accessories and apparel, it’s their BiltBuck collection of leather goods that represents the real heart of the brand. Popular items include the Lot.444 horse butt engineer boots, the Lot.320 cowboy boots, and the Lot.625 Hair on Horsehide King Shawl jacket, all of which are made from beautiful, high-quality leather, and feature truly incredible craftsmanship.
Y’2 Leather
Sumptuous is probably the word that best describes the leather offerings from Osaka-based brand Y’2. Founded in 1998, Y’2 only makes leather goods, so the expertise they’ve cultivated after nearly three decades in the business is apparent from the moment you see their work. The leather jackets are almost works of art, with a mix of horsehide, steer hide, and sheepskin jackets that look downright otherworldly when viewed up close. Add to that their meticulous construction and the incredible attention to detail, and you truly end up with some of the best leather products on the planet.
Double Helix
A relatively new entry into the Japanese leather game, Double Helix was founded in 2017 in Tokyo. And with their stylish offering of classic-meets-modern horse hide jackets, they’ve shot right to the top of the ladder. Part of what makes Double Helix so special is the leather they use — which is 1.3-1.5mm horsehide sourced from Poland — and their proprietary vegetable tanning process – which retains all of the natural characteristics of the leather. As far as styling goes, they’re not exactly reinventing the wheel, since it’s all built around heritage Americana. But when the leather and construction are this good, they don’t have to.
The Real McCoy’s
For modern leather jackets, we mostly have the 20th century U.S. army to thank. Bombers, Perfectos, flight jackets, and deck jackets – all of which have their roots in military wear – are pretty much the foundational silhouettes of everything we wear today. Throw in a splash of the Old West and you’ve basically summed up the entire leather jacket milieu. And you’ve also summed up the basic aesthetic behind The Real McCoy’s, (and their sub-brands Buco and Joe McCoy and Company.), a brand that recreates American fashion from the ‘40s and ’50s with exacting detail. Classics like leather B-6 bomber jackets, A-2 flight jackets, ‘50s-style motorcycle and Western jackets, and ’40-style workwear jackets, not to mention ‘50s-style engineer boots and ‘40s-style work boots and service shoes can all be found in The Real McCoy’s lineup. And all are made using beautiful, high-grade leather and flawless construction.
Black & White Photo from Josh Sirlin of Black Bear Brand. Visit his SALT. collection