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10 Best Men's Leather Jackets for 2021

Best men’s leather jackets: All Saints, River Island, Ted Baker and more stylish brands

best leather jackets for men
  • The most enduring and envied male clothing item of our time, the leather jacket has always been an iconic symbol of cool and calculated sophistication, a shortcut to instant masculine appeal and maturity
  • The chosen jacket of every style icon of the last century and the current one, a leather jacket is a fail safe path to a sleeker look that never goes out of trend
  • Available in various aesthetics, the design and popularity of the leather jacket survives thanks to its many incarnations, from vintage motorcycle apparel to casual Friday night bomber. As a material which can be cut into any fashion, there’s always an option that will fit with your personal style
  • From classic black to eye-catching red, leather jacket colours are evolving too, meaning the modern man can easily harbour a vintage feel while still expressing a more in-touch 21st century fashion

Our Top Styles & Brands For Leather Jackets

The Best Leather Jackets For Men

Steve McQueen, The Ramones, The Fonz, Marlon Brando, John Travolta, Tyler Durden… the list goes on.

These fellas didn’t need a personality as long as they were wearing their infamous leather jackets – the epitome of style and substance for any man looking to bleed sophistication and attitude without even having to try.

For whatever reason, the coolest, baddest, most rebellious men have always donned cattle hide fabric and every slick-rick on celluloid thus far has been a certified tanners’ dream whether they ride a motorcycle or not.

If you think this means you can’t pull one off – think again – because this is an item of clothing which wears you rather than the other way round, ensuring you’re always just a leather jacket away from achieving peak masculinity.

The best men’s leather jackets are made by Belstaff, the chosen leather jacket company of Steve McQueen, David Beckham, Brad Pitt and more. Leather doesn’t get any finer or more distinguished than this and with plenty of styles to choose from, Belstaff can help bring out the loveable rogue in any man, no matter your build or taste.

Coming in a range of styles and trends, the leather jacket has taken on many forms over the years, meaning finding a version of the fabric that fits your own personal taste is always a hassle-free hunt.

From vintage aviators and motorcycle jackets to on trend bombers and Harrington jackets, there’s an LJ out there to compliment every man and it’s our destiny to help you find it.

To complete our mission, we’ve studied the rails of dozens of the world’s most beloved and respected men’s fashion brands, from high street stalwarts All Saints and Superdry to more premium British brands such as Belstaff.

Prioritising a good combination of vintage and current styles, we’ve personally selected ten of the absolute best British leather jackets available from the most revered male brands, all made from premium lamb or sheepskin leather with the occasional faux option too.

Leather Jacket Buying Guide

Things To Consider Before Purchasing A Leather Jacket

Size

Like all men’s upper body clothing, choosing the right leather jacket size should be determined by your personal chest measurements in inches.

Once you know your measurements, it’s always important to check the size guide of your chosen brand to ensure you know what your measurements equate to in their sizes.

In general, sizes start at around a 34 inch chest (usually classed as XS) and go up in increments of 2 inches (S = 36 inches, M = 38 inches etc.). However these differ from brand to brand.

Style

There is no one single style of leather jacket and due to the popularity of the material many contemporary jacket styles now boast leather versions, allowing you to adapt leather into a more contemporary look.

Browse for jacket styles that you like such as bomber, coach, harrington and more, and then see whether they are available in leather form.

Classic styles also include vintage motorcycle jackets, racer jackets, field jackets and aviators which all have distinguishing features that may be a hit or a miss with your own taste.

Try and choose something which fits your personal style, age range or reflects current fashion to ensure that your leather jacket appears effortless and in the now as opposed to an outdated throwback.

Leather Material

Despite commonly being tanned cowhide, leather can actually come in a few forms the most common of which being lambskin, sheepskin and faux materials.

There are slight differences between each of these and knowing these contrasts may help you decide what type of leather jacket will best match your desired look.

Lambskin

The highest quality leather on the market, lambskin is unsurprisingly taken from a young bovine animal, where the result is a soft, silky and smooth texture with a very fine grain.

Due to this and the fact young bovine animals cannot provide much skin in the tanning process, it’s usually the most expensive leather when used in clothing.

Its cultivation still causes a lot of controversy though and some people aren’t keen on lambskin leather given the young age of the animal.

Sheepskin

Again, as you might have guessed, sheepskin leather comes from ovine animals, however these are taken from animals in maturity.

They tend to have a much more evident grain and texture than lambskin due to being more aged, but are still very fine and suitable for clothing.

Faux

Faux leather is becoming increasingly popular amongst customers in the same way faux fur has, allowing customers to get their hands on a genuine leather aesthetic that does not in any way use an animal’s actual skin.

Many materials such as PVC or polyester are used to create a synthetic product which replicates leather in both feel and appearance, allowing you to wear a leather jacket without a guilty or sickened conscience.

FAQ's On Leather Jackets

How much should a leather jacket cost?

Let’s not beat around the bush here, a real full-grain leather jacket can cost you well over £1000, especially if you purchase one from an authentic and iconic brand.

At their cheapest, it’s also unusual to find genuine leather jackets for less than a few hundred pounds, such is the value of the material.

This is why faux leather has become so popular in recent years, as it allows men to get their hands on leather jackets for less than £100 – but of course, the quality and appearance are nowhere near as good.

What you’re willing to spend is up to you, but given that even faux leathers can be costly, be sure that whatever you pay, it’s for a jacket that will redefine your wardrobe as opposed to collecting dust in the closet.

Which leather jacket is best?

Which leather jacket is best for you depends on your personal style and what quality of leather you wish to purchase.

Boasting a rich history, plenty of styles and always offering a premium, durable leather, Belstaff leather jackets are probably the best on the market, as the company itself is seen as one of the coolest and most respected British outerwear brands.

Worn by Brad Pitt, David Beckham, Steve McQueen and Johnny Depp, Belstaff jackets are the quintessential pick for some of this and last generations most fashionable men, thanks to it being the first brand to use a wax-cotton leather.

Synonymous with ideas of speed, style and adventure, Belstaff leather jackets are the definitive form of the most enduring male clothing item of our time.