It turns out spring is leather weather, at least this year.
Don’t be frightened: This isn’t a heavy head-to-toe rock ‘n’ roll look. This is about leather done as easy and breezy as one would expect as we head into warmer, sunnier times.
It could be a jacket, but it also could be a dress or a vest, a button-down shirt or pants.
Maybe it’s light pink or the chic color of stone, or maybe it’s perforated to give it a sporty vibe. There are paper-thin leathers and “vegan leathers,” the new industry way to say “pleather” or faux leather. Laser cutting can add airiness.
“What’s happened is that customers are responding to the luxuriousness of it,” said Tim Baxter, executive vice president of Macy’s fashion and product office.
Marti Horwitz, designer of the Marti collection, says a leather jacket or vest is the perfect layering piece for the days the weather can throw anything at you. “It’s an instantly more glamorous look,” she said.
Lambskin or goatskin is naturally thinner than cow hide, she said, advising shoppers to keep that in mind as they set out on a spring shopping spree.
She would take one of her floral-print leather jackets and pair it with a classic black dress, or wear a tougher motorcycle-chic jacket with a long evening skirt.
“The floral print is a showstopper, but it’s not for everyone,” she said. “I can envision it more in LA than New York. It’s for the person who wants to be the first one in a trend. It’s the same for the leather and eveningwear.”
For the leather novice, it’s easier to start with the daytime outfits, Horwitz said, and go with a navy or a chocolate brown, which she promises will work with existing items in the closet. (She said she is assuming black is already in the wardrobe.)
Baxter, meanwhile, suggests a bolder bright color or feminine blush tone in a classic shape, such as a blazer. If that still takes the customer out of her comfort zone, he said, try leather trim on the cuffs of a shirt, leather elbow patches or collars.
Price shouldn’t be a stumbling block, said Tom Julian, a director at the The Doneger Group, a fashion trend forecasting firm. Designer leather pieces will cost in the $500 (and up) range, but adding a touch of high-quality here and there is affordable in the contemporary market, he says, and faux leather — for less than $100 — is looking better than ever.
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