Richard James x Archibald: The Café Racer Jacket in Horween CXL

##Designed on Savile Row. Handmade in East London. Richard James, once nicknamed the bad boy of Savile Row, gave the stuffy street of menswear tailoring a shot of modern flair, when the designer arrived almost three decades ago, with his louche and provocative aesthetic. Credited with creating a new establishment on the Row, where masterful tailoring gets an injection of the style, the daring fashion house joins us in a second collaboration giving the Cafe Racer their customary flare.

To bring their design to life, we turned to an old stalwart, leather jacket makers in the East End. The East End has been a hub of sartorial excellence for over three centuries. When Huguenot silk weavers, fleeing France in 1685, set up shop in Spitalfields, a legacy was born. Fast forward to the 21st century and whilst the reputation remains, most businesses do not. Large brands have shipped production to South East Asia (for lax labour laws, little quality control and lower costs) and thus East London lost much of its manufacturing industry. We’re fortunate to be working with one of the few remaining East End experts, artisans who work with the finest Italian and Spanish leathers.

##Chromexcel (CXL) is a combination tanned leather from the fabled Horween tannery that undergoes at least 89 separate processes taking 28 working days and utilizing all 5 floors of their facility. Located in Chicago since it was founded in 1905, the Horween Leather Company is one of the oldest running tanneries in the USA. Specific and proprietary mixes of bark extracts and natural agents are used to give Chromexcel, its heavy vegetable retannage (this is what makes it so special). The benefit of combination tanning comes from the specific attributes that both chrome and vegetable tanning impart. Generally, chrome tanned leathers yield soft, supple, and durable leathers, while vegetable tanned leathers are round and full feeling, patina well, and are easy to coax into shapes using heat and moisture.

Waves of immigration combined with abject poverty, rapid industrialisation, and political activism to turn the East End into a crucible of cultural expression.

Take an iconic jacket, and make it to the highest possible standard. So good you’ll bequeath it to a loved one. We’ve given our craftsmen the strictest instruction to not compromise on any part of the making process. Put it on for today’s journey and tomorrow’s adventure - que sera sera, mate.