Schott identity

Peacoat said:

To me, Perfecto is not only a brand, but is also a style of jacket—the cross zip motorcycle jacket introduced in 1928 by Irving Schott who named the jacket, and the brand, after his favorite cigar. They were popularized by Brando in the Wild One in the early 50s and by the Ramones in the 1970s.

Click to expand...

I think most people understand that perception but the fact is cafe racers and utility jackets are made by Schott in the Perfecto range as per the above photo. In the Wild One it has been established, here and other sites, that Brando most likely wears a Durable not a Schott.

Right. We have had considerable discussion on this with some deep digging by members on several sites. As to Schott claiming that Brando's jacket was a Schott, it may be based on the fact that Schott bought the Durable company at some point after that movie was released.

But I just looked on the Schott site and they are now claiming that in the iconic photograph of Brando perched on his motorcycle, he was " . . . wearing his Schott Perfecto®." If that is true, it is odd that not one researcher has been able to locate any Schott Perfecto with sleeve zippers the length of the ones in the movie. If I remember correctly, period Durable jackets did have those long zippers.

Marketing strikes again? In the end all we can go by is the available evidence which looks Durable... but we'd all welcome fresh evidence, I'm sure.

Schott seems like a fashion brand these days with a small number of good jackets. It's a great shame they don't make jackets in tall sizes. And the website models and photos they use are a real turn off. I think they are stuck in a no man's land, somewhere between mall brand and wannabe hipster market.

The topic of the Brando jacket has been beaten to death. It's a Durable, not a Schott. The whereabouts of the actual Brando jacket are unknown, but examples of Durable cross-zips match the Brando jacket perfectly.

To return to the original topic, I hope the OP can learn more about the year of his jacket and post some info here.

Hey
Found this on the Schott forum :
"This is a style we made for approximately 20 years with slight variations in styling. The jackets were produced in either a Naked Cowhide or a Steerhide leather, never in a Horsehide leather. If the jacket is stiff it means the jacket needs some conditioning, as the leather seems to be drying out. None of these jacket styles were made in a actual distressed leather any distress on the jacket is from wear and age. The jackets also all had zip-out liners, the double snap collar would have been on jackets after 1981. The jacket style is more then likely the style 657 in steerhide or the 157 in Naked Cowhide, from the 80's.

Gail"

ahh identity confirmed , time for the sequel Schott Supremacy