Last autumn saw the re-emergence of the aviator look in women’s fashion, and now mens designer clothes are set to follow suit with the aviator jacket prominent in high street stores like House of Fraser. Last year was the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, perhaps the inspiration for many British designers in the run up to the autumn season. Many of the men’s designer clothes ranges in the U.K. will feature leather this autumn, and the aviator jacket is a classic amongst leather jackets.
The aviator look is classic 20th century, and taps into the styles sported during some of the most troubled periods of that turbulent century. As such, the aviator look references heroic endeavour, and with such positive connotations has become the design classic that never really went away. The first aviator jackets were designed with necessity in mind, to cope with the freezing conditions faced by pilots taking to the skies in open cockpits. Even after the introduction of closed cockpits, and the increasing prevalence of larger aircraft with sealed cabins after the First World War, aircraft were not heated. This meant that the insulation provided by wool lined leather aviator jackets was essential to keep pilot and crew healthy during missions, especially since flight times were growing in length thanks to the increasingly range of military aircraft.
It was in the twenties that the iconic sheepskin flying jacket was designed, and then first mass produced in the U.K. for the RAF. Since then, there have been many tweaks and further developments of the aviator jacket, including the later offshoot the nylon bomber jacket, but none can quite match the classic style of the leather, wool lined aviator.
Of course, no aviator look is complete without the addition of aviator glasses, which have perhaps never been quite so popular. One of the main advantages of the aviator jacket is that it actually looks better the older it gets, as the leather is worn in. Given the timeless appeal of the aviator look, this means that an aviator jacket can be an investment that you can turn back to season after season – and what’s more, it’s guaranteed to keep you warm, whatever the weather.
