History of Lewis Leathers Part2
Most important brand "Lewis Leathers" in history of British culture.
Derek Harris, the 5th generation owner, tells tradition and innovation.
10 4/22 UP
Text:Andrew Bunney Photo:Tommy Translation:Mayumi Horiguchi
- A :
- What is the importance of the company to Motorcycling?
- D :
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I think it was part of the whole folk-history of British motorcycling from the ‘20s until today. It went a bit downhill in the late ‘80s through the ‘90s to be honest, but it holds a great place in people’s hearts. Older people in their 50s through 60s come in here and they tell me about going to Great Portland Street when they were 17 and I can see that to them it was the same as me going to Sex or Seditionaries（＊5） or Acme Attractions（＊6）. They would have to travel here if they didn’t live in London and it was this exotic place to go to. Your expectations are really high and it was a Mecca in a way for a lot of people. We did have shops in places like Birmingham and Sheffield but the London place was the one to go to.
Because of the sponsoring of the TT riders, the famous guys that were on the TV and in the papers, it lent a lot of credibility to the company as well as the road-worthiness of the road jackets as well. - A :
- When Lewis Leathers had the Great Portland Street shop, what were the other shops around it at the time?
- D :
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Much more rag-trade in those days. In the early 20s there were much more motorcycle and motorcycle clothing shops around in the area. It seems to have been the place to go to buy motoring, motorcycle and flying gear. It was also close to Regent’s Park, which is a fairly rich place to live, and I figure if anyone was going to own an aeroplane parked up in some airfield then it might be those guys so they could easily reach D Lewis Ltd.
- A :
- Who are your customers now?
- D :
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For the last 2 years or so, we have only advertised in classic motorcycle magazines, which is read generally read by someone older up into their 60s, so our English customers are nearly all motorcyclists that wear them to ride vintage motorcycles. Increasingly we get people coming in to wear them as a casual item. We’ve got a good following worldwide because of the website shop, the name is getting out there.
There are quite a few French people that come in to buy Lewis Leathers, and now we’ve finally opened a shop again, it’s time to promote the store again in England. More fashionable guys are coming in to buy jackets, and I think that is going to increase.
＊註5：Sex or Seditionarie…Boutique that Malcolm MacLaren and Vivienne Westwood were managing in London.
＊註6：Acme Attractions…Boutique of legend in London to which Don Let's served as manager.
- A :
- Was this location important?
- D :
- I think it’s important because it is central. It’s not too far from the original shop; it’s a five-minute walk from Great Portland Street. It’s nice that we managed to get the old phone number back, so we are on the same exchange as the old shop. I like to be in this particular street as it is a bit of a backwater, I like to be somewhere set apart from everyone else -off the beaten track you might say.
- A :
- Is it important to make the products in the UK?
- D :
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Yes, purely out of tradition, not for any sort of nationalist reasons. It always has been, and always will be while I still own the company. We’ve made sneakers in China. But in England there is no history of making sneakers, so I think that is perfectly acceptable. But jackets, boots, and gloves we make in the UK. Jackets and trousers in London, boots in Northampton and gloves in the West Country.
- A :
- What’s the most popular item that you sell?
- D :
- Currently it’s the Cyclone. For years it was the Lightning, but the Cyclone jacket had been gathering pace for a while and has just about overtaken the Lightning in the last year or so. The vintage Cyclone is a pretty hard jacket to find, I guess not many people bought it. There are probably a few thousand worldwide but it was not as ubiquitous as the Lightning. Funnily enough the Cyclone has been picked up by one or two prominent guys in Japan who might have liked it because it wasn’t worn by everyone else, which has then made it more sought after. It’s a unique jacket. The waistband on it I’ve never seen on any other jacket. There is something on another jacket in Germany, but I think that came out after the Cyclone.
One of the special things about Lewis Leathers from a vintage seller’s point of view is when people say to me that it was great selling Schott, Buco, those kind of things, but there was such a narrow variety of styles available. Lewis Leathers had a huge array of jackets from the 60s to, say, 74. Then you have colour-ways and then you have stripes, and it is quite amazing. I had a guy call me the other day and he said that he had a white Monza jacket that he bought it in 1973. He bought it in the Sheffield shop, and they said “Are you sure you want a white one?” He said “Yeah”, the shop explained that “we generally only use white for racing leathers.” But the customer stood fast, so they phoned up the London HQ and they said “A White Monza? No one’s ever ordered one of those before”. Anyway, he persevered with it. It’s nice when you get a story with the jacket like that and I bought it from him. I must make sure I write it down and put it in the pocket…!
