How the Aviator Jacket Went from Open Cockpits to Open Roads

When First World War pilots climbed into open-cockpit biplanes at altitudes where temperatures plunged below minus thirty, survival depended on clothing. The earliest aviator jackets were heavy horsehide lined with shearling, cinched at waist and wrists. By 1917 the Royal Flying Corps issued standardised leather coats.

The U.S. Army Air Corps introduced the Type A-1 in 1927, followed by the legendary A-2 in 1931. Made from horsehide with a shirt-style collar and knitted cuffs, the A-2 became standard issue through World War II. Each jacket bore squadron patches and hand-painted nose art.

The A-2 was a specification before it was a style. Army Air Corps Specification 94-3040, issued in 1931, fixed seal-brown horsehide, a knitted wool waistband and cuffs, a shirt collar with hidden snap fasteners and a hookless Talon zip, and set the length short so the jacket would not bunch under a seat harness. Contractors substituted goatskin when horsehide ran short, which is why surviving examples differ in grain. The type was dropped in 1943 and reinstated for USAF aircrew in 1988.

Surplus A-2 jackets flooded postwar markets, and Hollywood accelerated civilian adoption. Marlon Brando in The Wild One and James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause wore jackets owing proportions to the A-2. The aviator jacket became shorthand for masculine rebellion against Eisenhower-era conformity.

European houses elevated it to luxury. Belstaff, founded in 1924, produced waxed-cotton and leather versions. Today brands like Saint Laurent offer shearling-lined aviator jackets in lambskin and Toscana shearling at prices exceeding several thousand dollars (https://www.belstaff.com).

Key details remain consistent: front zip, defined waistband, snug cuffs, and a collar that turns up against wind. The fit should be close, as military specifications demanded to prevent snagging on cockpit instruments. The leather should develop character with age.

Judge one by the hide first. Horsehide is dense and creases in sharp folds; steerhide is heavier and more even; goatskin is pebbled and supple; lambskin, which is what most fashion aviators are cut from, is soft, thin and will not last a decade. Leather is sold by weight, an ounce being a sixty-fourth of an inch, and a serious jacket uses three to four ounces, a shade over a millimetre. Then stretch a cuff: wool ribbing recovers, acrylic stays baggy.

Styling means respecting proportions while avoiding costume. Pair with slim dark denim and white sneakers for weekends, or layer over a rollneck with tailored trousers. Avoid excessive patches or distressing unless genuinely restoring a vintage piece.

Two British makers cut horsehide A-2s to original patterns for high hundreds of pounds, Eastman Leather Clothing in Devon and Aero Leather in Galashiels, while The Real McCoy's and Buzz Rickson's in Japan work to contract-level accuracy at a multiple of that. Care is mostly abstention: keep mink oil and heavy conditioners off horsehide, which they darken and soften permanently, brush the dirt away, stay clear of radiators, and have worn knits replaced rather than the jacket.

From freezing cockpits to modern sports cars, the aviator jacket has proven remarkably adaptable. Its longevity lies in genuine utility and a mythology connecting every wearer to the courage of early flight. Buy quality leather, wear it hard, let the patina tell its own story.