The top choice for many A-list celebrities and fasionistas who appreciate quality, the Aero Leather jacket is a genuine Scottish icon

Many of us hark back to a ‘golden age’ of years gone by for some reason or another. However, for one Scottish fashion firm, that sort of ethos forms the entire basis of their business model. 
At Aero Leather, based in Galashiels, things are done on the basis that time has ‘stood still’ at the year 1960.  

This means that all of the designs they produce, the materials they use and the production techniques they employ date from the 1930s, 40s and 50s – and not a moment later.
It comes from a belief expressed by the firm’s founder Ken Calder that, from the 1960s onwards, “a lot of clothing became mass-produced and the quality dropped.” 
“He used to say the designs became a bit questionable too,” laughs Denny Calder, Ken’s son and the now-director of Aero Leather.  “So we are trying to recreate clothing from a period when things were design classics, and really well made.” 

Even the firm’s name, Aero Leather, is borrowed from a New York fashion firm from the 1940s, who were making flying jackets for the US Government and the Army. 
This disdain for modern fashion comes despite the fact that Ken Calder was responsible for dressing some of the most famous musicians of the 1970s, including Elton John, Slade and, famously, Suzie Quatro, for whom he designed the iconic leather catsuit, despite not having any formal fashion training.

Ken, originally from Caithness, moved to London in the early 1960s and began putting on gig nights for various musicians.  He quickly realised he had an eye for fashion and later opened a vintage clothing store – long before vintage was en vogue – importing and repairing vintage jackets from the USA. “In the process of repairing these jackets to sell them, he saw a lot of how they were constructed,” Denny explains. 

“After a while someone approached him to see if they could make him a jacket. My dad thought he would give it a bash and the rest is history.”
The family soon moved back to Scotland, where they settled in the Borders and established an Aero Leather factory. The term ‘factory’ may conjure up images of a production line or complex machinery, which couldn’t be further from Aero’s manufacturing process. Each of the company’s products is created from start to finish by one machinist, reflecting an aversion to production lines and a belief that quality is created when workers take ownership for their products.

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“Nothing is outsourced. It is all made right here at our factory in Galashiels,” explains Denny. “Each jacket has a little ticket in the pocket that the maker will sign, as well as place the customer’s name, giving them a unique connection with the machinist who made it.  We quite often get requests from customers who are buying their second or third jacket to say: ‘Julie made my first jacket, can she make this one?’
“Customers can personalise their jacket not only in terms of the style, but they can choose the leather, choose the lining, choose what goes in the zips.”

With many of their machinists racking up decades of years of service, Aero offer a reliable source of employment in Galashiels, a town long fabled for its textile industry.
“We try to use as many local suppliers as possible and try to keep Scottish manufacturing alive. There are fewer manufacturers still going in Scotland and it is getting harder and harder to maintain. We occupy one of the last remaining mills in Galashiels, in a street that 50 years ago was full of mills.”
Denny admits that it is difficult to compete with the low production costs in other countries, where many brands are outsourcing. However, for Aero it is crucial to keep their manufacturing local, to preserve jobs and, crucially, to keep their carbon footprint down.

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“We try to make our jackets as sustainable as possible,” Denny stresses, “which includes manufacturing them in a way that can be easily repaired. Like a good pair of shoes that can be resoled, our jackets are built so that in 10 or 20 years time, if the lining has worn out or the zip has broken, customers can bring it back to us and we can do repairs to keep that jacket going.
“The phrase ‘pay more, buy less’ is definitely apt. You can buy a £50 jacket each year which is going to fall apart – because the manufacturer doesn’t care if it lasts – or you can buy ours, which will cost you a bit more but which will become an heirloom piece, a jacket you can pass down to your children. The quality is incomparable.”

Although they are hugely proud of clothing they produce, you won’t find Aero putting external branding on their clothes (the only label is a small one on the neck of their jackets). Despite this, they are immediately recognisable to collectors, who email the team when a celebrity is spotted wearing an Aero jacket. They certainly aren’t short of fans – with Dave Grohl, Axel Rose and Paul Weller just a few of their recent customers. Aero have also been asked to make dozens of pieces for film and TV, including Empire of the Sun, Marvel’s Captain America, Bohemian Rhapsody and Peaky Blinders. 
They recently worked on a World War II series called Masters of the Air, set to air on AppleTV in January, produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks: “We got asked to make 40 jackets for that, including for one of the lead characters.”

Such projects ensure Aero products are in front of the next generation, with growth in younger markets also fuelled by the brand’s social media activity. Their Instagram, @aeroleatherclothing, has 32,000 followers and they are particularly popular among younger shoppers in Japan, with a steadily growing export business.
Aero are keen to grow further within Scotland, too, and encourage anyone who is interested in their products to come along to the factory in Galashiels to see what they do.

If it’s good enough for Elton John...

www.aeroleatherclothing.com