In the decades after World War II, surplus leather jackets found a second life along the coastal highways of California. Some traced their patterns back to 1930s working and hunting coats; others were military flight jackets, reinterpreted through wear and necessity. Weighted against wind, the same silhouettes worn by riders and outsiders — often passed down, repaired, and re-worn — became a kind of unofficial uniform, carrying the spirit of postwar California.

More than 5,000 miles across the Pacific, and roughly forty years later, Y’2 Leather began producing jackets drawn from these same original patterns. A small atelier steeped in decades of cumulative experience, Y’2 selects hides by hand, tests seams repeatedly, and cuts, sews, and finishes every piece in-house. Vertical production here isn’t a strategy so much as a mindset. Together, we revisited some of the 20th century’s most iconic leather garments. 

At the center is a WWII-era G-1 flight jacket, reworked in goat leather with a paraffin wax finish. A shearling collar, belted action back, articulated sleeves, and Bemberg lining make it wearable today without softening its original intent. Alongside, a cropped trucker cut from hand-dyed, vegetable-tanned horsehide offers a taut, precise silhouette, while a modern interpretation of a 1930s Grizzly Jacket combines shearling panels with a cotton-wool glen plaid lining, marrying ruggedness and refinement. The accessories — a two-sided horsehide wallet and a structured tote — are treated with the same restraint, letting material, proportion, and construction speak for themselves.