Schott NYC continues to make celebrity cool leather jackets as well as ones for SoCal temperatures

Although it sells men’s and women’s clothes and accessories, fashion label Schott NYC is best known for its classic leather biker jackets. You know the ones, outfitted with star-studded epaulettes and belted waists.

Schott is a tried-and-true East Coast brand, but it has a strong connection to Hollywood and the entertainment industry. Its jackets have been worn by James Dean, Marlon Brando, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, Debbie Harry and, more recently, Adam Levine, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Kanye West.

This spring, Schott executives relocated the brand’s Los Angeles-area flagship store from the Americana at Brand in Glendale to South La Brea Avenue in L.A. near men’s multi-brand boutique Union. And in June, the label, which has a flagship store in New York, opened its third Schott NYC store in Chicago.

While visiting Los Angeles, Jason Schott, the label’s chief operating officer and fourth-generation member of the Schott NYC founding family, talked about the brand’s made-in-America heritage and forward-thinking designs.

Made in the U.S.

So, what goes into making a Schott jacket worn by bikers and celebrities? “We’re in the [New Jersey] factory every day, and our name goes onto all the jackets we’re producing,” said Schott, who works alongside his mother, Roz Schott, president of the label, and his uncle Steve Colin, the company’s chief executive officer. “Every single piece of leather is cut by hand and it takes about a day-and-a-half to sew one jacket together. I couldn’t imagine outsourcing that process and having no control over the quality. It’s our mission to give people a reason to buy [clothes] made in America. Some of our equipment is 100 years old, and it has a certain signature you just can’t replicate at a factory in China.”

Schott said a majority of hides come from U.S. sources such as Chicago’s Horween Leather Co., founded in 1905. “We work with the tanneries to develop finishes, like hairy suede, that is drummed and beaten up for a textured, broken-in look,” Schott said. “People think that you can’t get leather wet, but I spent one Thanksgiving washing a line of jackets in my bathtub, and I personally hand-sanded another collection, one by one.”

Schott said his family’s brand skips adding “gratuitous logos” and allows the jackets to speak for themselves.

“It’s the little details that identify us,” Schott continued. “We have a signature snap on the back of the collar and functional details like bi-swing back panels that extend out for extra range of motion and vented underarm [gussets], because these are real riding jackets. The leather is heavy and rugged, so we use heavy-duty, asymmetric zippers designed not to ripple when you lean over a motorcycle.”

Artist and designer partnerships

Schott said the brand has a long history of high-profile fashion and art collaborations. In the late 1980s, artist Keith Haring hand-painted his own Schott jackets, and decades later, L.A. fashion designer Jeremy Scott approached the brand about printing one of Haring’s iconic graphic designs on a version of the classic biker jacket in 2009.

The collaborations between Schott NYC and artists and Hollywood have continued this decade.

Since 2011, Schott NYC has partnered with New York skate-centric fashion label Supreme on an array of co-branded bombers, moto jackets and pea coats. A leopard-print faux fur-lined leather work jacket ($668, in black and burgundy) recently hit stores.

Also, for the brand’s 100th anniversary in 2013, Schott NYC commissioned one-of-a-kind designs hand-painted by artists including Shepard Fairey and Curtis Kulig.

Recently, singer Alicia Keys commissioned artist Sandra Chevrier to paint the back of her Schott NYC leather jacket. And last month, Scott teamed up with Schott to create crystal- and jewel-embellished men’s and women’s moto jackets for his eponymous spring 2018 fashion collection. The designer, who’s known for his over-the-top style, wore a custom gold chainmail Schott NYC moto jacket to the MTV Video Music Awards in August.

Last month marked the launch of a six-piece Schott NYC x Maje capsule line available in Maje stores and maje.com. The line, which ranges from $155 to $1,095, includes a T-shirt, a reversible nylon bomber jacket, trench coat, shearling-trim jacket, wool sweater and a dress.

Also continuing their collaboration, Schott NYC teamed up with Demna Gvasalia’s buzzy fashion collective Vetements. Just out is an oversized black leather jacket with a dramatically long, grommet-laden belt ($4,650 at www.net-a-porter.com). And Rag & Bone’s fall collection contains new riffs on the Schott NYC leather Perfecto jacket in styles for men and women ($1,495 at Rag & Bone stores and www.rag-bone.com).

Although these designer collaborations aren’t available in Schott NYC stores, Schott said the label issues about 15 seasonal, fashion-forward Perfecto Brand designs in limited-edition runs of 80 to 100 pieces. This fall, Schott has shifted course by focusing on lightweight leather and suede styles in pared-down fits inspired by requests from California clients who want to have that celebrity cool factor year-round.