Lose the Leather: Why it’s not cool to wear leather jackets?

So you’ve been scrolling through Pinterest or Facebook or Instagram and looking at articles and feeds full of celebrities and models wearing leather jackets and looking sharp. Many posts on how to amp up your winter wardrobe and classic pieces that all people need, which always includes a leather jacket. Which then makes you wonder, “Hmm… I could pull off a leather jacket, I think I’d look good in one.” And then the countless articles about how to style a leather jacket, how to take care of it, the best places for buying one, hours of online browsing etc. And so one wonders, is it all really worth it? Read on to decide for yourself!

1. Leather comes from animals:
No brainer, right? What we don’t know is that the leather used can be of a number of animals like, cows, pigs, goats or even exotic animals like ostriches, kangaroos and sometimes even dogs and cats! All of this leather is manufactured in developing countries like China and India and then sold all over the world. This leather is often unmarked and a buyer may never know what animal their leather jacket is made of. So don’t condemn a poor animal to die so you can look cool.

2. Temperature range:
Leather jackets usually form part of winter attire, but here’s the thing, the leather may keep the wind out, but it will not provide any insulation whatsoever. So you’ll be stuck wearing one layer which provides no insulation when you really need it. And as soon as the temperatures hit 25-degree celsius, you will start sweating. So the limited temperature wearability makes buying leather jackets worthless from a utility point of view.

3. Cost:
Your google search history will be full of every variation of “cheap leather jackets”, but guess what? Cheap leather jackets do not exist! A decent faux leather jacket comes in upwards of 2000 rupees and real leather jackets start from 5000 rupees minimum. And these are the absolute basic ones which have no lining and no warmth, so when exactly would you wear these?

4. Looking “cool”:
I hate to break it to you but there is a reason you only see celebrities and models donning leather jackets, you need a certain something to pull off a leather jacket and that certain something is usually not found in us average human beings. One can argue that you should take risks with fashion and wear what gives you confidence. This is correct, but is there no other way to get confident in your clothes except condemning a poor animal to die? And here is a thing to consider, a leather jacket is a huge statement to make. It will definitely get you noticed, but positively or negatively, who knows?

5. Garment care:
Leather is a very high maintenance clothing option. And for the price you pay, it shall only keep adding on to the dry clean bills, which is not so smart, economically. Also since the fabric is so stiff and not stretchable at all, the leather jacket won’t be as forgiving to your body like a sweater or a coat if you put on a little holiday weight.

6. The pollution generated:
After slaughtering poor animals, the skin is removed from the body, then dipped in chemicals to get rid of the hair and blood, these chemicals are also largely unregulated and very harmful for those working with it as well. Then the leather is processed in tanneries where it is dyed to get the required shade and colour. This whole process leads to the generation of huge amounts of chemicals and waste products, which are dumped into water bodies as is and cause irreversible damage.

So why would we go and encourage an industry that is not only brutal on poor animals but also its workers? Just so we can look cool? I think we all have a bit more humanity than that. Therefore next time you go out looking for clothes for the cold instead of a leather jacket, invest in good coats and colourful sweaters which will make those gloomy winter days better. Let’s leave the “looking cool” quotient out and focus on being comfortable in our own skin instead of a poor animal’s!