We’ve been all over the world in this series of articles so far. From the UK to the US, via New Zealand (albeit producing clothing out of India and Pakistan). And in this installment we continue the trend by heading off to Argentina to talk about the ‘fan darling’ jacket maker of the moment – Steele & Jones.
Imagine if some fans started making Indiana Jones jackets and, not only that, brought their fan senses to the project. So, unlike vendors getting ‘close enough’ jackets made and selling them online, or vendors offering custom (or semi-custom) jackets with the chance to tweak the measurements of an existing design, these plucky Argentinians have turned the industry on its head. Roberto and Diego have made a study of many different jackets used throughout the series (as only gearheads can), and will not only recreate them from scratch via meticulous back-and-forth contact with the customer (a process that starts with a waiting list), but will do whatever the customer wants, in terms of weathering as well.
Ah yes… weathering. The Holy Grail for many gearheads, and a topic that drives some into spasms of fear as they think about taking acetone, or a kitchen scourer, or some other implement to their brand-new Indy jackets, to make them look more like the screen jackets. Steele & Jones, meanwhile, will do this straight off the bat. If you want a jacket that looks like the Last Crusade jacket on display in the Smithsonian – they will make it, no problem. This has great appeal to a wide variety of Indiana Jones fans – from those looking for a display piece, or a super-accurate cosplay jacket, or just an everyday jacket that makes them feel even closer to their hero because the jacket looks identical to what they saw on-screen. Suffice to say, Steele & Jones’ offerings are VERY popular within the fandom today.
Price-wise, you will pay for this kind of service (remember, the guys are making the jacket from scratch to fit you), although with cowhide starting at US$390, you can get in on the ground floor with Steele & Jones for not radically more than the price of a Wested jacket. And certainly a lot less than a fully custom jacket from Magnoli. Of course, once you start going into different hides, the prices do go up and start sprinting way past Wested, and becoming commensurate with Magnoli. The website lists hides that are popular with gearheads, such as grainy and striated lambskin, for example, at US$650.
You can see why Steele & Jones have become so popular these days. One of my favourite YouTubers (and a gearhead himself), Michael French over at Retroblasting, has an expression he sometimes employs, often with regard to the toy market, but more broadly too; “The fans are doing the best work…” and it’s hard to argue. While some vendors have tried to do right by the fans, while maintaining a ‘mainstream’ business model (I can recall many times the late great Peter Botwright at Wested was almost driven out of his mind with the kind of requests gearheads would ask him to make to their jackets), when it comes to a business like Steele & Jones, the guys basically want you to do that. They want to know the movie (even the scene), you are wanting to recreate. They want to know the level of weathering you want. They’re gluttons for punishment to my eyes because gearheads are among the most anal costumers out there. But this is important… this is what they want to do. They’re not offering jackets and will roll their eyes when the 500th gearhead shows up and wants to do something incredibly fussy with their jacket. They just make Indy jackets (and hats too, but that’s all), and they love doing it.
Although I recently bought a Raiders jacket from Wested, in its standard pattern, in a basic lambskin (which is about as far as you can get from Steele & Jones’ usual work), I’m not immune to their charms by any means. What I wanted was a jacket that would be comfortable for commuting to the office that would look new and when it weathers over time – great. It made no sense to go to Steele & Jones for that. However, when I have the urge for an Indy jacket in a nice, screen-accurate leather, matching a favourite scene, cut in a way that’s maybe not entirely comfortable or useful as a day-to-day jacket, and weathered so it looks like it’s already gone through hell before it reaches me – these are the guys I will be speaking to, without question. While knowing about Wested used to be (and probably still is), a step down the rabbit hole for the Average Joe who thinks, “Gee, I’d like a jacket like Indiana Jones…” I think knowing about Steele & Jones, let alone buying one of their jackets, is going all the way down it.