Introducing Lewis Leathers "Britain's Oldest Motorcycle Clothing Company"

In the late 1970’s a young man from Lewisham, southeast London with a  shock of electric black hair and devil may cry attitude was hunting down a biker jacket. Leather jackets had become a symbol for an emerging subculture called “punk rock,” immortalized on the silver screen by actors like Marlon Brando in The Wild One, popularized by The Ramones making music in Queens, and still deeply tied to its origins in the motorcycle scene. This troubled youth’s search would eventually lead him to Viv Albertine of The Slits and her tattered Dominator jacket from a cult store in east London called Lewis Leathers. “As soon as he saw it he coveted it and told me about it several times when he visited me,” a friend recounted. “Eventually they did some sort of swap and ‘Sid’ got his prized jacket…” He would collect studs and badges that would personalize the jacket’s iconic look, one that would become emblematic of a musician known as “Vicious” who played bass on a band called the “Sex Pistols.” The jacket would remain dear to him through a tragic end. “Bury me in my leather jacket, jeans and motorcycle boots,” a note found in his pocket by his mother read. “Goodbye.”

Founded in 1889 in London’s Great Portland St., D. Lewis first sold new and second-hand tailoring made at the family factory a few miles to the east. By 1926 the location around the store had developed into a hub for the sale of luxury and exotic cars and motorcycles and D. Lewis responded accordingly. Concentrating on flying, driving and riding clothing in leather and heavy textiles, the company supplied the world’s greatest racers and flyers, including the test pilots of the Supermarine Spitfire aircraft, that saved Britain from Nazi invasion in 1940.

In the postwar epoch, the company moved away from military contracts and became the go-place to buy protective clothing for riding some of the world’s fastest motorcycles of the period, most of which were British. In the prosperous landscape the 1950s youth sought to emulate their racing heroes and tuned Triumphs, Nortons and Velocette’s to operate efficiently at over 100mph (known as the ‘ton’). Pushing against family, work and school and operating on a local level, subcultural groups met in trucker café’s situated on the arterial highways surrounding London and would race from one to the other, pushing risk-taking to new levels. Some coalesced under the banner of a church youth club called the 59 Club and rode side by side with the priests who ran it. The common signifiers of the British Ton-up boys, rockers and greasers were speed and leather – usually bought from the D. Lewis Store at 124, Gt. Portland St. Their style was uniquely English, and while American style was an influence, it was their own homegrown aesthetic that dominated the 1950s and 1960s in the British motorcycle scene.

In 1960, and with the young riders in mind, the company introduced the Lewis Leathers brand, which soon became synonymous with motorcycles and style. The entire cultural package was encapsulated in Gilliam Freeman’s book The Leather Boys, that was later made into a film in 1964. As the motorcycle scenes changed in the late-1960s Lewis Leathers took a downturn but was thrust back into the spotlight in the mid-1970s when a new menace hit the streets of Britain. The Sex Pistols’ first appearance on British TV caused outrage as crude behaviour and strong expletives were hurled at an interviewer on a family teatime news show. Punk rock had arrived and it was packaged in black leather, frequently sourced from Lewis Leathers.

We love Lewis Leathers for the sleek lines of their silhouettes, the peerless fit of the jackets, and the quality components that age richly over time—all pillars of something meant to journey with you through life and everything it throws at you. And it’s impossible to mention Lewis Leathers without recognizing late owner Derek Harris, whose unquenchable passion in research, collecting, and retracing nearly every detail in production during the company’s finest eras has made the brand what it is today. A good leather jacket becomes like a second skin, not meant to be kept pristine, but scuffed, broken in, and taking on the personality of its wearer. For us, Lewis Leathers is the gold standard when it comes to leather jackets you’ll own for life, still proudly made in the UK, mostly at factories that have crafted the pieces for over half a century.