On Friday, January 31st, we release our fourth collaboration with venerated leather jacket manufacturers Schott NYC. With each consecutive project, we've aimed to push the envelope a little bit further: to try new things and take bigger chances. We've felt comfortable with this approach largely because of the team we work with at Schott and the level of care they've applied to our projects over the years. We bring this up because making leather jackets is not a push-button endeavor. Leather hides are natural, organic materials and no two are alike. Obstacles come up in every stage of the process, from leather development to sampling to production. Jason, Don, Theresa, and Casey at Schott NYC have always stepped up and found solutions for every challenge we faced, and we are thankful for their support.

One of the central ways we continue to challenge ourselves each season is through custom leather development. Getting access to a world-class tannery like Horween (who we've written about in our Singularities series) is something a small brand like ours is very fortunate to have, as well as having someone at the helm like Nick - who understands our aesthetic and is able to transform our rough ideas into beautiful leathers. A second way we wanted to up the bar this season was to introduce a new silhouette to the mix.  As such, we're proud to present not one, but two jacket styles this season: the Chromexcel Horsehide Perfecto and the Chromexcel Horsehide A-2.

What’s new for the season is a modified A-2 flight jacket. We sat down with Schott for an afternoon and went through their military archives to find a fit that fell perfectly in line with 3sixteen’s aesthetic and came across one that we were thrilled with. We love vintage A-2's but were looking for a way to slightly modernize the silhouette. The arms are slim, and the body has been slightly lengthened without negatively affecting the higher-waisted look that a flight jacket should have. We chose to exclude the epaulets and added hidden side entries to the front flap pockets for the sake of practicality. Finally, we had Schott add a custom sheepskin collar that really finishes the jacket off; should the wearer want a cleaner look, the shearling collar is fully detachable.