MIRAGE French Flight Leather Jacket, Thick Sheepskin

A French Air Force pilot jacket, its classic look kept whole and its pattern rebuilt from the ground up. A small stand collar you can fold down, a round pen pocket on the sleeve, and a cigarette pocket at the chest. Those three together belong to the French jackets alone, and they make for a narrower, quieter line than an American military piece of the same years.

The originals were long in the body and cut close. That does not suit how people wear a jacket now, so the length, the chest and the overall proportions were redrawn, with some of the ease of an American jacket added back. How hard the elastic hem pulls, the size and the height of the pockets, where your fingers land when you put a hand in, even the brushed fabric lining those pockets, all of it was settled by wearing the thing. The pattern was rebuilt three times over a year and tested through a winter. Not a copy of an old shape, but a jacket to wear now.

The leather is sheepskin from New Zealand hides. It keeps the softness and the hand of sheep leather but is finished thicker than usual, so none of the flimsiness of a thin sheepskin is there, and the jacket sits with more substance for it. The surface carries a fine grain.

The lining is red quilting over 3M THINSULATE™ insulation. The waist pockets are lined with a brushed fabric, so they are not cold to put a hand into. IDEAL zippers at the front and the pen pocket; dot buttons on the collar and the waist flaps. Elasticated hem, and one inside pocket.

■ Material
Shell: sheepskin (New Zealand hides, thick-finished). Insulation: 3M THINSULATE™. Lining: quilted (red).

■ Details
Front: IDEAL zipper
Collar: small stand collar, can be folded down
Buttons: dot buttons at the collar and the waist flaps
Pockets: one cigarette pocket at the chest (flap); two at the waist (flap, brushed lining); one round pen pocket on the sleeve (zip); one inside pocket
Hem: elasticated
Lining: quilted with insulation

■ Colours
・Brown-Core Brown (Photos 1-13.) Brown right through the cut edge. Where it rubs, the colour underneath comes through, so the years of wear become the finish.
・Black (Photos 14-25.) Dyed through to the core, with no resin coating on the surface, so the colour may transfer at first. See Care below.

■ Sizes
S / M / L / XL / 2XL / 3XL
See the measurements chart below the size selector.
*The model is 176 cm (5'9") tall and weighs about 80 kg (176 lb), wearing size M.
*Shorter in the body and easier through the chest than the French originals.

■ Country of origin
China

■ Care
・The leather is uncoated, so the colour can transfer while the jacket is new. With the black especially, keep it off pale clothes at first. It settles as the rubbed areas take on a shine. A thin coat of leather wax or cream builds a film that calms it down.
・Keep it out of the rain. If it does get wet, blot the water off with a dry cloth and let it dry naturally in the shade.
・Store it on a hanger that matches the shoulder width.
・Wipe marks with a dry soft cloth and feed the leather with a leather cream as needed.
・Keep it out of direct sunlight, heat and damp.

■ About natural leather
・Creases, vein marks, scars and unevenness of colour are part of a natural hide, not faults.
・Colour may transfer or fade, and the leather will change with wear.
・Every piece looks slightly different.