The flight jacket is something that was created for practical reasons. During the First World War there were no enclosed cockpits for the pilots in the fighter jets. The trend to wear long coats had caught on. The Aviation Clothing Board was established in 1917 by the US army. They started distributing heavy duty flight jackets.
These jackets were made of leather with wrap around collars and had zipper closures and were fringed and lined with fur. This was the birth of the American flight jacket. The first sheepskin flight jacket was designed by Leslie Irvin. The company he set up was in the UK in 1926 and supplied the flight jackets to the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
The demand for these jackets so went up that the company had to engage sub contractors to supply according to the rising demand. The most popular American flight jackets were the A2 and the G1. The A2 jacket still remains the most sought after flight jacket.
Hollywood has also given its share of contributions to the popularity of the flight jackets. Movies like Top Gun have made the G1 jackets a fashion collector’s prized possession. Another popular type of jacket was the shearling jackets among which the bomber jacket and the M445 are the most sought after models. |
