Do you know Grailed ?
This second-hand site stands out for two things: its resolutely high-end, if not luxury, positioning
However, if I think about it today, it is not for the site itself, but rather for the evocative force of its name , very inspiring.
“Grailed” .
If it is impossible to translate into a single word in French
And behind the concept of the Grail, the mysterious treasure of medieval legends, there is obviously the idea of a "quest" , of which the Grail is supposed to be the outcome.
In other words, a Grail is an “ultimate” garment in its category.
Not so much “ultimate” because it would be “perfect”
Of course, what you consider to be your “Grail” may change over time. But there are certain unfulfilled sartorial desires, which we see refining and maturing over the years, in the background, at the bottom of our minds... Until one fine morning, we wakes up exclaiming:
" That's what I want. And sooner or later, I'll end up getting it exactly like that!"
Today, I would like to share with you one of my “Grails” , the quest for which has become clearer over the years.
I have a small list in mind, and if you like it, I plan to send you others for this "Carte Blanche" format, about ankle boots, coats, jeans...
But this time, we're going to start with the Perfecto.
My ideal perfecto in the past looked more like this: impeccable manufacturing, immaculate dipped lambskin and luxurious zips... ( Atelier Bertrand)
A few years ago, my ideal was the Perfecto in its "luxury" version: lambskin leather whose grain borders on perfection, chrome zips exuding refinement... Something very contemporary, in fact.
And having tested (and owned) such a jacket for a while, I was long delighted by this "refined" approach which helped to make the perfecto more accessible in terms of style.
Then one day, it became too small, and ended up in the hands of a friend .
I told myself that sooner or later I would have to replace it. But over time, I began to dream of a perfecto that was the opposite of the first…
My ideal black perfecto
Above all, I ended up being seduced by the idea of a leather that develops a lot of patina , unlike the smooth lambskin from my former Atelier Bertrand .
1. Do we make toast on the patina?
That said, we are sometimes disappointed by what the patina of time can give in real life.
Because by reading everywhere that leathers "become more beautiful with time" , we expect wonderful contrasts, to be projected in a comic book, to find the texture of an old film and finally ... We are just faced with an object that bears its age well.
The patina of a well-preserved vintage Aero Leather (horse) leather. It's far from ugly, but it doesn't upset me either.
And for good reason: we sometimes forget that old photos of said actors, musicians, or even our parents, are not only tinged by a subjective nostalgia , but also by a grain and a treatment of colors very different from what you would see on a modern image... Or if you saw the room with your own eyes.
This is the rendering of Indiana Jones' jacket in the film (which was probably "aged" manually by the costume designers, by the way).
It is not for nothing that Instagram fascinated the general public in its early days with its “vintage” filters of all kinds: they have the power to embellish reality.
In short, it's part of the magic of "retro", and its limits...
Said jacket in a more neutral contemporary photo. It remains beautiful. But it doesn't have the same magic as in the film. And above all: it is not a “natural wear” patina.
Patina can have a charm, but it's not magic either. It's not like in the movies.
Well... That's what I thought.
2. “Fine Creek Leathers”: a patina like a dream
Because if you know a little about Japanese brands and the aesthetic philosophy of "Wabi-Sabi"
This is where Fine Creek Leathers comes in.
The first time Benoît mentioned the brand to me
This is basically what I saw in a quick Google Images search:
A brand new Fine Creek perfecto. At first glance, it's a very pretty (horse) leather, with a particular grain... But you don't have to go all the way to Japan to find it, right?
It was only a few days later, when the name had come to mind, that I realized what made them unique by doing a second search. Because there… I came across this:
This patina is absolutely incredible. And yes, it's the same model as above, which was completely black initially.
And this is the absolute favorite.
I learned that the brand sources its supplies from a Japanese tannery, with which it has developed an exclusive tanning recipe for horsehides.
Via this vegetable tanning
First, the natural grain of the skin strengthens, giving it a supple and grained appearance similar to that of deer leather , but with an even more pronounced character.
It's a photo, and yet it almost looks like a designer's pencil lines when you look at the folds on the sleeves.
But above all, the deep black pigment gradually fades , gradually revealing the natural color of the leather underneath.
And in itself, this gradual loss of surface pigments is a common mechanism in the long-term patina of leather.
What makes Fine Creek unique is that the leather is tanned and treated so that this loss is faster, and more "melted".
So you get these splendid gradients that go from black to brown.
The nuances are of a richness that I have never seen elsewhere on a "natural" patina.
I exclude any comparison with "artificial" patinas made by the hand of man
A photo of another model, probably thicker, and in what I assume is a newer condition. The patina is still different.
If my heart fell in love with the "Léon" model (the most popular I have the impression), the brand also seems to offer different thicknesses of leather, but also different finishes , which will give patinas even different from that shown above .
In short, Fine Creek takes up the challenge of offering leathers whose patina is as ideal as “the idea we have of patina”.
Again. More patina photos please!
What's funny is that to a novice, such leather would appear beautiful, but would probably not seem "out of the norm".
Precisely because it corresponds to the common fantasy we have of “beautiful, well-aged leather”… When such leather practically does not exist.
“More royalist than the king”
This type of product illustrates very well the wonderful paradox of certain Japanese brands , which revere vintage so intensely, that their reproductions and interpretations end up being "more authentic than the original".
This approach is also explained in the eternal and essential book “Ametora”.
It's the same kind of philosophy that drives brands like Orslow and its jeans, which are the ideal version of "old, well-sanded jeans."
Or again, The Real McCoy's which strives to reproduce vintage pieces while reconciling maximum historical fidelity, and a quality undoubtedly beyond the standards of said pieces at the time...
And more simply, it is also this extremeness which means that certain Japanese selvedge canvases ended up being more textured and grainy than the first Levi's canvases of yesteryear.
3. A short, fitted old-fashioned cut
Despite this praise, the quest for my Holy Grail would not be one if all I had to do was order a Fine Creek jacket to accomplish it.
Because if I really talk about my “ideal” perfecto, it would not only have leather like the one I showed you above, but also a cut adapted to my body shape and my style.
It's not obvious when I'm dressed, but I have a so-called "athletic" physique: I weigh 73kg and 1m72, with a chest measurement of 106cm, and a waist measurement between 75 and 79cm
To clarify a little what these numbers mean from a ready-to-wear point of view , it means that I have the chest measurement and build of a "large" M, a waist measurement of S, or even XS.
As for the length of the tops, you should know that brands generally think of XS for people ranging from 1m70 to 1m75...
The model from Rivet & Hide wearing this famous “Léon” weighs 78kg and is 1m82 tall. Seeing the length and the fit on him, I know in advance that the jacket won't suit me.
In short, the verdict is very clear to me: if I buy a ready-to-wear jacket, it has a good chance of being either too tight or too long and loose at the waist.
In addition, still due to my body shape, I am more advantaged by silhouettes with mid-high waists.
... Which is obviously difficult if your jacket completely covers your waist and falls to your hips (or even impossible when closed).
Note that these silhouettes were well represented in the 50s to 70s, during which they were even the norm.
Marlon Brando (and his 1.75m tall) would have had difficulty wearing his iconic Schott Perfecto without its original cut, short and fitted.
Beyond that , the bend seems to me to be an important parameter for a perfecto , regardless of the style or morphology.
Because when it is open (unless you are tall and slender), your silhouette would be weighed down by the two crossed sides of a jacket that is a little generous at the waist.
Enthusiasts will rightly point out that Aero Leather jackets are available in special orders, customizable and made-to-measure. YES... But it's not Fine Creek leather.
Besides, it's a sweet irony when we know that this design was invented so that bikers would be better protected by the double layer of leather at the front but...
A perfecto is more often worn open than closed .
By the way, I think that ideally, I would prefer a slightly copper colored zip like on this model. Am I being a little nitpicky? Yes. ( Aero Leather "Indian Ranger")
So, to summarize, I would need a jacket with the exclusive leather from Fine Creek, but cut for the stomach and height of an XS, but the chest and build of a large M.
Well... It's not a win.
Impossible mission ?
How am I going to do ? Will I try to source said leather from a mysterious Japanese tannery
Mission almost impossible: not only is it very difficult for an individual to buy leather worthy of the name at retail, but the Japanese cult of secrecy will not help.
Without even talking about the price of such a project which would undoubtedly be... Crazy. I wouldn't even dare attempt an estimate.
Another thing that really appeals to me about the "Indian Ranger" from Aero Leather : the design and placement of the pockets, zips and belt.
Could I try to purchase one through a contact in Japan
Maybe. That said, beyond the cost that it would represent, there is no guarantee that such a retouch will give a truly convincing result.
Either. Could I then hope, in my wildest dreams, that the brand would offer a secret half-measure service , or that they would make an exception for me just because I'm very nice and have great taste? But yes, of course I can.
This is all crazy. But that’s also passion.
And the day you complete such a quest, when you obtain such a Grail... Your garment will carry not only the value of its beauty and its financial investment, but also the value of the path you traveled to obtain it.
Anyway, now you know my first “Grail”.
And you, what are these pieces of which you have such a precise idea, that you have made them a “Grail”?
