Pop quiz: Guess the maker / brand of this jacket

[newtojackets]

I saw this jacket online and thought this would be a fun game: guess who makes this jacket.

Will give you a hint: the answer may surprise you

 

[AeroFan_07]

Was this possibly a '90's GAP Cafe Racer?

They had some pretty nice items back in those days at odd random times.

 

[ABCD]

Ralph Lauren, 'jeans' label?

 

[Tom71]

Similar notion here. I vote for RL "Polo" line. I´ve got a "Single Rider" from the 2000´s (sorry, couldn´t resist) which is really nice albeit very thin.

 

[ericsanpablo31]

Is that a Restoration Hardware cafe racer?

 

[newtojackets]

Ralph Lauren, 'jeans' label?

Damn it, this was supposed to be difficult…

 

[newtojackets]

What gave it away?

Similar notion here. I vote for RL "Polo" line. I´ve got a "Single Rider" from the 2000´s (sorry, couldn´t resist) which is really nice albeit very thin.

 

[ABCD]

The zippers look like those used by Ralph Lauren 15-20 years ago, Conmar branded 'Ideal' zippers. Could be Polo Ralph Lauren but I'm not seeing the blue Polo label. There's a hint of a leather label instead, which indicates to me it's a 'Polo Jeans' jacket, the label that was produced under license. Similar to 'Schott LC' nowadays (which isn't actually produced by Schott but by their European Licensee). Difference being that Schott LC jackets are ****, while some Polo Jeans jackets are quite nice.

 

[newtojackets]

The zippers look like those used by Ralph Lauren 15-20 years ago, Conmar branded 'Ideal' zippers. Could be Polo Ralph Lauren but I'm not seeing the blue Polo label. There's a hint of a leather label instead, which indicates to me it's a 'Polo Jeans' jacket, the label that was produced under license. Similar to 'Schott LC' nowadays (which isn't actually produced by Schott but by their European Licensee). Difference being that Schott LC jackets are ****, while some Polo Jeans jackets are quite nice.

So this would have been produced by a licensee who is a legit jacket maker? The reason I posted this was I was shocked to read that this was Ralph Lauren and was guessing everyone to guess the brands you usually see here!

 

[ABCD]

So this would have been produced by a licensee who is a legit jacket maker?

Neither Ralph Lauren or the Licensee are makers, they don't own any production facilities themselves. This jacket was probably produced in China. Which doesn't necessarily mean it's bad quality. Like said, many of these RL branded jackets are really nice.

 

[Tom71]

What gave it away?

Just an (educated??) guess.

Leather looks pretty thin, and that´s something that´s seen with upper end fashion brands: they replicate generic (classical) designs but aim at pleasing their clientel by making it more "wearble" (in the sense that you don´t much feel that your wearing a leather jacket anymore).
At the same time they sometimes come up with good/excellent products, just in a lightweight version. RL would be an example, but I´ve seen good pieces from Gant too. They of course let the actual production do the people who know their craft (as they would do with the shoes/boots they are offering under their labels).

Unfortunately, with companies coming up with up to 12 seasonal collections per year, the "hit or miss ratio" is less trsutworthy than any of the companies discussed here (including Himel), so you have to actually handle the actual pieces.

 

[Tom71]

Neither Ralph Lauren or the Licensee are makers, they don't own any production facilities themselves. This jacket was probably produced in China. Which doesn't necessarily mean it's bad quality. Like said, many of these RL branded jackets are really nice.

You will know best, of course, with RL. A lot of the medium-tier brands from Germany have re-located their production to Europe (Italy and Croatia predominantly). What they pay more in production costs they save with regards to supply-chain issues, consistency of quality etc.

Boots, I believe, will be 90% made in Portugal, these days, since Notinghamshire is out of the picture.

 

[Aloysius]

The Conmar immediately gave it away as RL. No other somewhat mainstream brand uses repro zippers.