By Faye Fearon,Heidi Quill,Jessie Atkinson
Copyright gqindia
When Hedi Slimane moved to the Parisian menswear brand Yves Saint Laurent in 2012, it wasn’t just the name of the brand he changed (Slimane dropped the “Yves” at the beginning and added “Paris” at the end). The French designer also injected the label with a heavy dose of hyper-hip modernity, which transformed it into one of the highest-earning jewels in the Kering group crown.
The way Slimane did this? With a black leather biker jacket. And a suede western jacket. Oh, and not forgetting the Payne’s grey Napa racer. By putting leather jackets back at the centre of Saint Laurent’s seasonal collections, Slimane instantly made the brand cool again. Because what’s cooler, what’s more achingly hip, than a perfectly fitted biker jacket? Favoured by Marlon Brando, Jimmy Dean, and countless other rebels (with or without causes), to buy a leather jacket is to make like them and put yourself on a one-way road to cool.
The good news is that in 2025 you don’t need to be a teenager or a man going through a midlife crisis to wear one. Sure, the classic biker is still doing the rounds, but now there are cropped leather car coats that you can easily wear into your fifties, long-line leather trenches that would look epic on the back of a rakish septuagenarian and a host of suede, shearling Sherpa jackets that would look the business on, well, anyone. Here’s rounding up the best leather jackets for men in 2025.
The best leather jackets for men, according to GQ
1. AllSaints
Since AllSaints started out as a leatherworker in East Central London’s Spitalfields Market, it’s no surprise that the brand is still acclaimed for its classic jacket designs. Brought to life from a leather that’s specially developed for a lightweight feel, the Gen is pure nonchalance in jacket form with a slightly blouson-shaped style.
2. Marks & Spencer
Pure, premium leather for under £200? For a trusted result, it could only be M&S, whose dedication to premium at relative affordability extends far beyond its brut champagne. Here’s a belter of a blouson (or ‘Harrington’ as Marks and Sparks also rightly calls it) in neat, smooth lines with minimalistic top stitching and an exposed metallic zip.
3. AllSaints
AllSaints’ bread and butter: the leather jacket in a biker shape, as characterised by exaggerated studded lapels, over the top zipper action, and a double-breasted silhouette. This piece does differ a little from the usual biker jacket in that it shirks a waist belt in favour of a cleaner finish, but otherwise it’s all biker, all the time.
The beauty of a leather jacket is that it can be tailored to any scenario. If said scenario is formal, a blazer-shaped style is the solution, which is where Cos comes in. This beauty is crafted from a chrome-free leather (guaranteed to grow more supple with wear, FYI), is shaped to a sharp yet relaxed fit, and is topped with a classic camp-collar for just the right dose of pizazz. Put simply, it’s a serious upper layer to stylise your next soirée.
Gucci is the house that masters little details, and in the case of this leather jacket, extra style points are ensured by its embossed body. Incorporating the brand’s instantly recognisable GG monogram across its centre piece, this bomber-jacket style has been assembled in Italy from a lambskin leather, framed with ribbing across the collar, hem and cuffs for extra warmth, and fitted with padded lining to enhance its billowing canvas.
