Question about vintage Lewis Leathers

[Giorgiogrande]

Hi to everybody! Recently acquired this vintage Lewis Leathers jacket with a big usa patch on the back. A couple friends told me it could be from the 60's and worth a lot. Could someone kind enough help me with dating and evaluation of the jacket? would really appreciate it. Photos are attached. Wishing the best to everybody

 

[MotoMetalPunkNY]

Ask AI. I’m thinking that flag on the back hurts the value, unfortunately

 

[Edward]

Hi to everybody! Recently acquired this vintage Lewis Leathers jacket with a big usa patch on the back. A couple friends told me it could be from the 60's and worth a lot. Could someone kind enough help me with dating and evaluation of the jacket? would really appreciate it. Photos are attached. Wishing the best to everybody

Definitely not 1960s: that model is a Super Phantom, which was first added to the Lewis line-up in 1975. It's possible this was a custom order at some point if there was never the small leather patch with the "Lewis Leathers" Logo on the chest: those came in from 1968, but over the years since Lewis has sometimes agreed to omit them from made to measure jackets (and sometimes not). Lack of the forearm zip that they put on this model now isn't "wrong"; I believe all the confirmed 70s versions of this model I've seen didn't have it. (It's a feature that cropped up here and there across the Lewis range from 1966, moreso I think since Derek, RIP, revived the brand in the nineties and it became something of a visual brand signifier). Labelling looks right for late 70s to my eye.

The blue liner is authentic. Lewis are regularly associated now with the classic red lining, but back around the time this jacket would have been made they also did blue and black liners. I don't know whether those were a special order or if they kept them in stock. Lewis themselves might be able to tell you if you drop them a line.

As to value... hard to know. These later styles don't attract the same attention as those associated with the peak of the early 60s Rocker movement (Corsair, Dominator, Lightning, Bronx...), the Rocker revivalist scene being where you're most likely to see a Lewis within ten feet of a motorcycle these days. (Which is not to knock the brand - great jackets, and they transitioned out of being limited to the motorcycling niche with the 70s, famous Lewis-wearers including Tim Curry and Sid Vicious (both in genuine Rocker jackets, acquired used), as well as Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Steve Jones, various members of the Damned, and at one point circa, I think, 1978 Joey and Marky Ramone; the adoption of Lewis into punk rock iconography created a whole new audience for the brand which is still much in evidence today). Going by eBay, an average asking price for one of these is anywhere between £80 and £500 depending on how keen the seller is to get rid, condition, size and all the rest of it. As ever, bigger sizes sell for more. 38s tend to be on the smaller end, which might limit it. You'll occasionally see more recent production jackets sell for more as those are coming from folks who paid £1200 odds new for them. They do tend to sell a little better from what I've seen than the vintage pieces, but that often seems to be as much about size as anything. And of course it's always best to look to sold prices rather than asking prices on eBay for a real indication. There's a lot of listings go on with an overly optimisitic 'BIN' to flush out better offers than an auction sale might.

The patches will compromise value somewhat too. The Honda less so as quite en theme for the jacket design's era (by the mid 70s, the British motorcycle industry was all but dead, and Japanese bikes that nodded to something of the style of a 60s British bike, but with modern features like indicators and a greater reputation for reliability were all the rage). The US flag is likely to be more limiting. Presumably the original owner was referencing Easy Rider, but it's not an emblem with any particular association with the Lewis brand. May or may not affect sale value if you're in the US, though here in the UK I think it would put a collector off. There was a bit of a fashion vogue for the Star and Stripes over here around 1989, which could be when it was added if this was a jacket in the UK. If you're in the US ,though, could have been at any point. It could be removed of course if you don't mind the sewing holes being visible (I used to wear a jacket years ago with stitching holes left by a Harley patch that was on it when I bought it and I swiftly removed), though that would depend on whether the stitching is the only form of attachment there - I've known some people to glue patches down on a jacket before stitching.

The jacket being black is a plus if you are going to sell it on. With this model, and the Super Monza from 1978, Lewis really pushed their range of leather colours. Snot green, canary yellow, blaze orange... sold as a safety feature in the late 70s (and as I've noted elsewhere, in an era when even a proportion of motorcyclists shunned the 'bad boy' perception of head to toe black leather and before the innovations we now have in textile riding gear, also marketable to those who wanted to avoid those perceptions). What I see now is that the brighter colours, innovative as they may have been at the time, often sell now for much less.

On the whole, though, it's a very nice example of a 70s British motorcycle leather design from a known name, and looks to be in good condition. Likely not of particular value given factors discussed above and these later designs being a little less sought after, but a really nice condition example of a very particular style era for British motorcycle leathers.

Ask AI. I’m thinking that flag on the back hurts the value, unfortunately

Generative AI plagiarism software has one big problem with it (apart from all the other problems, of course): you can only ever trust any answer it produces if you already know the answer.

The patching, moreso the flag, would definitely hit any resale value.

 

[Monitor]

Ask AI. I’m thinking that flag on the back hurts the value, unfortunately

If you want to be misinformed, sure, best thing to do is to ask Artificial Ignorance. The thing is constantly spewing nonsense. Simply rephrasing questions related to leather jackets produces contradictory answers.

As for the flag, while true that it generally hurts the value, considering the time we live in, chances that it will attract a buyer because of it and not despite of it are greater than ever.

 

[MotoMetalPunkNY]

If you want to be misinformed, sure, best thing to do is to ask Artificial Ignorance. The thing is constantly spewing nonsense. Simply rephrasing questions related to leather jackets produces contradictory answers.

As for the flag, while true that it generally hurts the value, considering the time we live in, chances that it will attract a buyer because of it and not despite of it are greater than ever.

what has it said that was incorrect?

 

[Geekrobot]

Looks like a late 70s example to me. That blue lining tends to pop in in the mid 70s LL jackets, as has been said. The Super Phantom was a longer version of the more classically-styled Phantom and came around in the mid 70s. Additionally, it has the black Aviakit label text, which was also in early jackets (which this is not) and popped up again (I think) around the mid-70s. Finally, it still has the L cuff zips and ball-chains, which went away by the 80s. 70s era LLs still hold decent value, and are from the end of the original Lewis Leathers company era.

If there's a Lewis Leathers patch on the shoulder area, it's likely from the 1981-forward Kett period, where the og company was sold and the quality and patterns slid down a bit -- and those are lower in value than 60s and 70s examples. But based on the above, I think it's before then.

The Super Phantom itself is a great jacket, but their staples like the Lightning, Bronx, and Cyclone tend to sell for more -- probably based on the trendiness of cafe racers during that time, there seem to be more of them around than the crosszip styles. Also, the main zip was replaced, which is great for usability, because I'm sure the original was replaced due to fault -- but draws the value down (along with the patches).