andyfalzon
Vendor
- Messages
- 422
- Location
- europe
Sorry to our friends that it took a while to start this thread.
Please let me say hello to all the esteemed members of this forum and
introduce ourselves. We are a small boutique in Athens making high quality
leather garments since the 1980s.
We were focusing on fashion jackets mainly and supplying the local
market for many years. We had won also a government contract once.
Our staff is very experienced and have learned the craft in Canada
and Italy.
We started making WWII flying jacket reproductions and vintage style
jackets under the Bill Kelso brand name in 2009 to address to the global
market, as unfortunately the local market was very weak due to the crisis
in South Europe and due to the fact that demand for leather
jackets had sharply declined because winters have not been very cold here
during the last decade. The above factors lead to the closing of our
shop in the center of Athens and the moving of our business to the suburbs
where we now operate from. The new establishment is a workshop only
and there is no showroom so we concentrate on mail order business
only.
Originally, we had designed a modest A-2 jacket ourselves based on some
originals. The concept was the design to benefit from some of the best
features found on original A-2 jackets. It was supposed to fill the
gap that existed in the low price range of jackets as we had found
that there was lack of a cheap jacket with a decent fit. Although
the design was good we discovered that it wasn't what our customers
wanted. What they wanted was an original wartime design, so it didn't
take long before we were able to present one. The new jacket had the cut and fit of
the original Rough Wear 27752 jacket but the hardware and other
materials were of the modern kind. The success of this jacket as well
as some pressure from loyal customers made us consider to upgrade our
jackets to accurate WWII repros.
The quest for the right materials took some time but in the end we
were able to get them and as our collection of original jackets
was growing we were able to present more and more new styles.
One of our very successful jackets has been the "Relic Hunter"
(Indiana Jones) jacket which the members of a forum dedicated to Indiana
Jones' gear have voted to be the best Indy jacket replica ever to
appear since the film came out in 1981.
Our reproduction Indy jacket can be seen here next to the film's original.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.631969613500000.1073741937.540638042633158&type=1
Last year we visited Italy where we sourced "Victory Horsehide" the highest quality horsehide in the world.
This summer we added Badalassi cowhide leathers to our range, and
are the only jacket maker in the western hemisphere to have Badalassi leathers
The first jacket we made with Badalassi can be seen here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.629070463789915.1073741935.540638042633158&type=1
Badalassi is one of the best tanners with worldwide recognition.
n September 2013 we will present our blue Badalassi A-1 which we
aim to make even better than the Japanese version.
The leathers we use are horsehide, cowhide, goatskin, capeskin, and lambskin
but may add more in the near future.
We are very much thankful to all of our customers from USA, Europe
and Asia for their support all these years and our promise is to
continue to deliver quality jackets to them.
Needless to say, we can make custom size jackets and we have often satisfied
even the most unusual requests. Our aim is to please our customers with
outstanding quality of materials and extreme attention to detail.
And of course "the perfect fit". Some of our customers are members of this
forum and have received excellent jackets which we are looking forward to seeing in their
reviews and photos.
Our latest style is the Star Sportswear A-2 which can be seen here:
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/18245
Other latest styles which do not appear on our website yet are available to order
can be seen here:
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/aeronaut/ also available with buttons
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/westfall/
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/duke/ also available with buttons
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/a-1/
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/waldo/ from the movie "The Great Waldo Pepper"
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/an-j-3/
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/jollyroger/
These are the 3D presentations where you can rotate the jackets, zoom in/out, full screen etc.
Our website needs updating with the new styles and we are working on it.
Meanwhile, you can see what's going on at Bill Kelso's at our facebook page
here: www.facebook.com/billkelsomfg
(you don't need to be registered with facebook to see it)
Here's a link where you can go straight to the pics and see hundreds of photos
with jackets and other interesting stuff.
For next season we are preparing many civilian styles, all very faithful
replicas of real vintage jacket designs.
Please stay tuned, over the next weeks I will post some 'behind the scenes' photos of
our team and factory.
Currently, we are on holidays and will be back first week of September.
Our customer service is still open though and should be able reply to enquiries
to sales@billkelsomfg.com
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Andy
Bill Kelso Mfg
www.billkelsomfg.com
Please let me say hello to all the esteemed members of this forum and
introduce ourselves. We are a small boutique in Athens making high quality
leather garments since the 1980s.
We were focusing on fashion jackets mainly and supplying the local
market for many years. We had won also a government contract once.
Our staff is very experienced and have learned the craft in Canada
and Italy.
We started making WWII flying jacket reproductions and vintage style
jackets under the Bill Kelso brand name in 2009 to address to the global
market, as unfortunately the local market was very weak due to the crisis
in South Europe and due to the fact that demand for leather
jackets had sharply declined because winters have not been very cold here
during the last decade. The above factors lead to the closing of our
shop in the center of Athens and the moving of our business to the suburbs
where we now operate from. The new establishment is a workshop only
and there is no showroom so we concentrate on mail order business
only.
Originally, we had designed a modest A-2 jacket ourselves based on some
originals. The concept was the design to benefit from some of the best
features found on original A-2 jackets. It was supposed to fill the
gap that existed in the low price range of jackets as we had found
that there was lack of a cheap jacket with a decent fit. Although
the design was good we discovered that it wasn't what our customers
wanted. What they wanted was an original wartime design, so it didn't
take long before we were able to present one. The new jacket had the cut and fit of
the original Rough Wear 27752 jacket but the hardware and other
materials were of the modern kind. The success of this jacket as well
as some pressure from loyal customers made us consider to upgrade our
jackets to accurate WWII repros.
The quest for the right materials took some time but in the end we
were able to get them and as our collection of original jackets
was growing we were able to present more and more new styles.
One of our very successful jackets has been the "Relic Hunter"
(Indiana Jones) jacket which the members of a forum dedicated to Indiana
Jones' gear have voted to be the best Indy jacket replica ever to
appear since the film came out in 1981.
Our reproduction Indy jacket can be seen here next to the film's original.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.631969613500000.1073741937.540638042633158&type=1
Last year we visited Italy where we sourced "Victory Horsehide" the highest quality horsehide in the world.
This summer we added Badalassi cowhide leathers to our range, and
are the only jacket maker in the western hemisphere to have Badalassi leathers
The first jacket we made with Badalassi can be seen here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.629070463789915.1073741935.540638042633158&type=1
Badalassi is one of the best tanners with worldwide recognition.
n September 2013 we will present our blue Badalassi A-1 which we
aim to make even better than the Japanese version.
The leathers we use are horsehide, cowhide, goatskin, capeskin, and lambskin
but may add more in the near future.
We are very much thankful to all of our customers from USA, Europe
and Asia for their support all these years and our promise is to
continue to deliver quality jackets to them.
Needless to say, we can make custom size jackets and we have often satisfied
even the most unusual requests. Our aim is to please our customers with
outstanding quality of materials and extreme attention to detail.
And of course "the perfect fit". Some of our customers are members of this
forum and have received excellent jackets which we are looking forward to seeing in their
reviews and photos.
Our latest style is the Star Sportswear A-2 which can be seen here:
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/18245
Other latest styles which do not appear on our website yet are available to order
can be seen here:
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/aeronaut/ also available with buttons
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/westfall/
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/duke/ also available with buttons
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/a-1/
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/waldo/ from the movie "The Great Waldo Pepper"
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/an-j-3/
www.billkelsomfg.com/3d/jollyroger/
These are the 3D presentations where you can rotate the jackets, zoom in/out, full screen etc.
Our website needs updating with the new styles and we are working on it.
Meanwhile, you can see what's going on at Bill Kelso's at our facebook page
here: www.facebook.com/billkelsomfg
(you don't need to be registered with facebook to see it)
Here's a link where you can go straight to the pics and see hundreds of photos
with jackets and other interesting stuff.
For next season we are preparing many civilian styles, all very faithful
replicas of real vintage jacket designs.
Please stay tuned, over the next weeks I will post some 'behind the scenes' photos of
our team and factory.
Currently, we are on holidays and will be back first week of September.
Our customer service is still open though and should be able reply to enquiries
to sales@billkelsomfg.com
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Andy
Bill Kelso Mfg
www.billkelsomfg.com
Last edited:
. Your advice and opinions are appreciated.
