Trend Alert: Leather Clothing

Men’s Leather Clothing

Don’t be afraid of bad weather or a little wind because Fall 2012 menswear is overflowing with thick leathers that are sure to protect.

Remember when wearing too much leather was considered gauche? Well forget what you know because for Fall 2012 it is leather upon leather upon leather that will get you on the best dressed lists.

Don’t be shy throw on a leather shirt, leather vest, leather tie and top it all off with a leather blazer. The leather pants, leather belt, and leather hat will just be icing on the cake… The leather cake!

Bottega Veneta by Thomas Maier was one of the first menswear collections that showed in Milan and it was layered with the animal skins. The men were literally wearing a leather dress shirt, tie, suit coat, and pants. The look was all about clean lines and smooth tailored with mostly leather that appeared supple and powdery, but occasionally the pieces were thick and rigid with some heavy biker influence to them.

Jil Sander by Raf Simons was another menswear collection that had nearly all leather for all 36 of their Fall 2012 looks. The men looked lux and really carried their style well in the clean Jil Sander, nearly seamless leather looks. The largest use of leather was in the three-quarter length jacket for men. Yup, you guessed it… all leather. Your mind may race to scenes from The Matrix when thinking about an all leather trench but Jil Sander managed to take the ballet gun-fight and turn it into a luxuriously quirky melodrama. When the men weren’t wearing complete leather outfits they were carrying brown paper bagged lunches and had cute sperm whales swimming all over their sweaters.

A word of caution with leather. The pieces on the runway are all glistening and shiny meaning they are well moisturized which gives them their sleek rick look. If you decide to invest in thei trend be sure to keep your leather moisturized and always treat it with respect. The animal it once was may be gone but leather like so many materials is a living breathing thing. It needs love, fresh air, and to be taken care of. The best way to make sure a leather item is being taken care of is if you wear it…that and moisturize it every six months. I recommend a leather renewal lotion that is not greasy or tacky. I find the best leather creams are the consistency of hand cream so shoot for that.

Lastly store your leather in a cloth garment bag when not in use. This is very important! One time I had a leather jacket that I just tossed in the closet and pulled it out the following spring. To my complete and utter dismay there were scratches all along the back from other hangers going in and out of my closet. I’m a stupid b*tch! But I learned my lesson. Don’t make my mistake buy a cloth garment bag with every leather purchase. You WON’T Regret it.