Leather & Rock'n'Roll: How Punk Culture Made the Jacket an Icon

The Uniform of the Outsider

In 1974, four kids from Forest Hills, Queens formed a band called The Ramones.
They didn't have money for stage costumes. So they wore what they had: Jeans, converse, and the leather jackets they bought at thrift stores.
Why leather? It was cheap (back then), it was durable (good for fights), and it protected them from beer bottles thrown by the crowd.

The CBGBs Uniform

The leather jacket became the unofficial uniform of the NYC Punk scene.
Sid Vicious (The Sex Pistols) added pins and studs.
The Clash added paint.
Leather stopped being about "Aviators and Heroes" and started being about "Anarchy and Noise."

From Gutter to Gucci

Today, Yves Saint Laurent sells a "Punk Leather Jacket" for $4,000.
Is it ironic? Yes.
But the spirit remains. A leather jacket is the only garment that immediately says: "I don't care what you think."