The first mass-produced leather jackets were made for military pilots in World War I as a utilitarian part of their uniforms: Most planes had open-air cockpits at this time, so pilots needed something to keep them warm and comfortable at high altitudes. In 1917, the U.S. Army created its Aviation Clothing Board, which issued leather flight jackets featuring zipper closures covered with wind flaps, tall wraparound collars, and fitted cuffs. German fighter pilots were also issued brown leather jackets as early as 1918. After the war, Leslie Irvin (who invented the parachute “rip-cord” system) developed the first fur-lined sheepskin jacket, known as The Irvin Flying Jacket. Made at Irvin’s factory in Letchworth, England, these leather coats were adopted by the British Royal Air Force in the late 1920s. Across the pond, raincoat designer Irving Schott created the iconic leather biker jacket with zipper closures, dubbed the “Perfecto,” for Harley Davidson in 1928. Beyond their association with pilots and police officers, leather jackets were quickly linked to motorcycle-riding outlaws. Beginning in 1931, the U.S. Air Force issued its famous A-2 jackets featuring a leather exterior made from brown horsehide and lined with silk. Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the military increased production and began making A-2 bomber jackets from goatskin and cowhide as well. Schott was among the manufacturers contracted to produce the military’s leather bomber jackets. The Army discontinued the A-2 in 1943, moving to a wool and gabardine style, but the leather A-2 remained the most popular. As the war dragged on, many enlisted men decorated their leather bomber jackets with patches denoting their squadron or bomb group, as well as hand-painted phrases, cartoon characters, pin-ups, military insignia, and more on their backs. Due to widespread popularity, several clothing companies created their own versions of the A-2 marketed to civilians. (The Air Force only reissued its official A-2 leather jackets in 1988, just after its fortieth birthday.) Meanwhile, the U.S. military standardized its leather flight jackets for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard during the 1940s, referring to this style featuring a moulton-fur collar as the M422, which was later updated and reclassified as the G-1. In 1947, additional subcontractors were commissioned to produce the G-1, which was established as the official naval aviation jacket with its silver “U.S.N.” stamp on the back of the collar. G-1 jackets were worn throughout both the Korean War and Vietnam War, and after the style was heavily featured in the 1986 film "Top Gun," leather companies across the country began replicating the look. By the 1950s and '60s, black leather jackets were regularly worn on the silver screen by rebellious, working-class “greaser” teens like those played by Marlon Brando in “The Wild One”—wearing his Schott “Perfecto”—and James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause.” As a similar show of defiance, the real-world Black Panther Party made leather jackets part of their uniform, along with dark sunglasses and black berets. But even pop stars like The Beatles were donning leather jackets, a sign that the style had gone mainstream. A very different style of fringed suede jacket exploded along with the hippie youth movement in the late 1960s. For centuries, Native Americans had produced and worn various buckskin leather garments—made from the tanned hides of deer, moose, elk, and caribou—and these weatherproof styles were adopted by early white frontiersmen. Fringed suede jackets modeled on the traditional leather tunic or hunting shirt, called a “wamus,” suddenly became popular again in the late 1960s and '70s, as hippies wore such clothing to reject dominant political culture and imply a deeper connection with the natural world. Though Leslie Irvin’s company stopped making jackets after World War II, in 1977, the Irvin trademark was transferred to a new company called Aviation Leathercraft, which began making leather jackets inspired by Irvin’s original designs. In the 1970s and ‘80s, black leather jackets were often customized with metal studs and worn by young punks, members of the gay BDSM community, and female rockers to signify their outsider status. By the 1990s, the look was appropriated by many top designers and leather jackets reached the upper echelon of elite couture, far removed from their military and motorcycle-club roots.