Luftwaffe-Style Double-Breasted Seal-Brown Leather Jacket, Period European, Kidskin, Moleskin Lining, Size 40

A fine seal-brown leather jacket of period European make, double-breasted with two rows of nickel buttons that fasten either way, lined in brown moleskin and striped cotton: a Luftwaffe-style cut with an honest, undocumented history.

A Jacket That Buttons Both Ways

The defining feature of this jacket is its front. Two full rows of buttons allow it to be closed left over right or right over left, so the wearer can turn the overlap away from the wind. The design belongs to a broad family of German and European leather jackets of the 1930s to the 1950s, worn by motorcyclists, drivers, naval personnel and police, and it is one reason the type has such enduring appeal: it is both practical and quietly formal.

It is also the reason caution is needed. Double-breasted leather jackets were made in large numbers for civilian and uniformed use for decades, and collectors warn that many sold as Luftwaffe are in fact motorcycle jackets of the 1950s or early 1960s.

Reversible double-breasted fronts were a sensible solution for motorcyclists and open-car drivers, who could turn the overlap according to the direction of the wind and the side on which they rode. Naval personnel valued the same feature on exposed decks. It is one of those details that tells us a jacket was designed for real outdoor use rather than for display.

Private Purchase and the Double-Breasted Cut

In the Luftwaffe, leather jackets were largely a matter of private purchase. There was no regulation pattern to follow, and officers bought what suited them from tailors in Germany and the occupied countries. Most of the famous photographs show short zipped jackets, but double-breasted examples were also worn, and dealer-attributed jackets of this cut with period insignia are recorded. That shows the style existed in wartime aviation; it does not show that any particular double-breasted jacket was part of it.

Period photographs show leather jackets in almost every imaginable cut, short and long, zipped and buttoned, on airmen, sailors, drivers and civilians alike. That variety is a reminder that the cut of a jacket alone cannot place it in a particular service.

Kidskin, Moleskin and Stripe

The materials here are of a quality that explains why period European leather is so admired. The leather is a fine seal brown, reported to be kidskin, the soft hide of young goats that takes colour deeply and creases into a fine, glove-like texture. The body is lined in brown moleskin, a dense brushed cotton that is warm and hard-wearing, and the sleeves in a striped cotton that slides easily over a jumper. All three are consistent with European manufacture in the middle decades of the century.

Kidskin was traditionally a luxury leather, used for gloves and fine garments, and its presence suggests a jacket made with care. Four flap pockets with buttons, buttoned cuff tabs and rear half-belt adjusters at the waist complete a design that is at once utilitarian and tailored.

Moleskin linings in particular were common in European workwear and uniform jackets of the period, valued for their warmth and durability. Combined with a striped cotton sleeve lining, they give the inside of this jacket a quietly period character that is often missing from later reproductions, where synthetic linings are the norm.

A Name Cloth and a Missing Label

Inside the left front, beneath a leather-welted pocket, is a small white cloth that appears to be a name tag; the writing on it is no longer legible. At the neck there is a trace where a maker's label has been removed. In Japan the removal of such labels is often explained as a wartime precaution against Allied bombing, but that is an unproven story. Labels were also lost to repair and relining, removed by later owners, or taken out after 1945, when former servicemen in occupied Germany were required to remove military insignia from clothing they continued to wear. Without the label, the maker and date cannot be fixed.

The jacket's fittings support that reading of careful manufacture. The nickel buttons are sewn through to the inside, the pocket flaps are cut and stitched neatly, and the rear half-belt adjusters allow the waist to be drawn in over different layers. These are the hallmarks of a garment intended to be worn for many seasons, and to be fitted closely to its owner.

Provenance, Stated Plainly

There is no provenance linking this jacket to a Luftwaffe airman: no documents, no photographs of a wearer and no service history. It is reported to have come from a German collection around 2010. On the evidence of its construction it could date from the late 1930s or from the 1950s, and we cannot narrow that range honestly. We describe it as a Luftwaffe-style, period European leather jacket, and leave any attribution to documents that do not, at present, exist.

We would rather offer a collector an open question than a false answer. If a future owner were to find a matching maker's pattern, a legible trace of the name cloth or a period photograph of the jacket in use, its history could be written more fully; until then, it is described exactly as the evidence allows.

The Appeal of Old European Leather

For many collectors in Japan, the attraction of jackets like this lies less in a military label than in the leather itself: hides tanned and finished in ways that are rarely practised today, sewn by workshops that expected a jacket to last a lifetime. A double-breasted kidskin jacket with moleskin lining is a fine example of that craft, and it wears its age with character.

In Japan, where collectors have long admired the craftsmanship of mid-century European tailoring, a jacket like this sits comfortably alongside the American flight jackets that dominate the field: different in spirit, but equally a product of an age when leather garments were built to be repaired rather than replaced.

The Piece

The jacket is in seal-brown leather, reported as kidskin, with a stand-and-fold collar and a double-breasted front of two rows of white nickel buttons that fasten either way. It has four buttoned flap pockets, buttoned cuff tabs and rear half-belt adjusters. The body is lined in brown moleskin, the sleeves in striped cotton, and an inner leather-welted pocket carries an illegible white name cloth beneath it.

It shows its age. There is a surface crack across the upper left front and at the shoulder, a split in the surface at the left cuff, peeling at the head of the right sleeve and some cuts and marks to the cuff linings. None of these prevents occasional wear, but they are part of the jacket and are reflected in its grade.

It fits about a US or UK 40, a Japanese L. The leather remains supple, and the combination of kidskin, moleskin and a reversible double-breasted front gives it a refinement that few later leather jackets match.

The illegible name cloth adds a quiet personal note. Someone once marked this jacket as his own, and although his name is lost, the jacket still carries that trace of an individual owner, as many well-used period garments do.

Details

• Type: Luftwaffe-style double-breasted leather jacket, period European
• Maker: Unknown; label removed
• Contract / label: Label removed at neck; illegible white name cloth inside
• Era: Mid-twentieth century, between the late 1930s and the 1950s (undetermined)
• Leather / shell: Seal-brown fine leather, reported as kidskin
• Hardware: Two rows of white nickel buttons, buttoned flap pockets and cuff tabs, rear half-belt adjusters
• Lining & knits: Brown moleskin body lining, striped cotton sleeve lining
• Decoration: None
• Tagged size: Untagged; about US/UK 40, Japanese L
• Measurements: Shoulder 44 cm · Chest (pit to pit) 51 cm · Sleeve 63 cm · Length 59 cm

Condition

• Surface crack at the upper left front and shoulder
• Surface split at the left cuff
• Peeling at the head of the right sleeve
• Cuts and small marks to the cuff linings
• Label removed; name cloth illegible
• No provenance to Luftwaffe use

Condition grade B on the Japanese scale; see Japanese condition ranks, explained.

Authenticity & Care

The label, contract and size tags, leather, stitching, zip and hardware, paint and insignia are examined together and documented in Japan before dispatch; anything that cannot be confirmed is stated plainly in the description. Every piece carries the Japonista authenticity guarantee. Feed the kidskin with a light cream conditioner, avoid flexing the cracked areas, and store it on a shaped hanger.

Delivery from Japan

Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Every sale is final; please ask anything before you buy, and see our published policy.

Every figure above is taken by hand with the garment laid flat, in centimetres. Lay a shirt or jacket you already love beside them and allow a centimetre or two of margin, the quiet safeguard on a final sale. Our size guide to tops and jackets turns pit-to-pit figures into US, UK, EU and Japanese sizes, and for anything it leaves open the curator team replies within one Tokyo business day.

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