A few months ago, I reviewed The Jacket Maker and recommended the brand for its honestly priced, made-to-measure leather jackets that strike a great balance between classic styles and affordability.
Not long after writing that review, Lusso Leather — a brand I wasn't very familiar with — reached out and requested a product review, and here we are.
I'm intentionally starting this review by mentioning The Jacket Maker (TJM) because it will become important soon, as many of my opinions from that review carry over to this one.
Leather jackets are one of those special pieces that many men dream of owning, and while there are affordable "fake" leather jacket options out there, they can be pretty noticeable to anyone who has experienced the look and feel of the real thing.
Indeed, a quality leather jacket often comes with a hefty price tag — over $500, sometimes even reaching $1,000 or more.
And when you add the luxury tax that often accompanies high-end brands, the cost can easily soar into the multiple thousands.
The options for a quality leather jacket can be limited for the average guy who just wants to look sharp without sacrificing quality or blowing up his wallet.
Brands like Lusso Leather are attempting to be different, though, by offering "custom" leather goods at an approachable price point.
Overview & Snapshot Review of Lusso Leather
That statement is taken directly from Lusso Leather's website, and if you felt that something was a bit "off" when you read it, then you're not wrong...
The wording above is full of grammatical errors and misspellings. I'm highlighting this NOT to criticize Lusso, but because I believe it accurately reflects my personal feelings about the brand as a whole.
There is a lot of jank associated with the website, the user interface, the available options, and the product I received.
Lusso Leather is a Canadian (Toronto-based) company that assembles its products in Turkey, offering custom-made leather jackets and accessories with a focus on timeless style and comfort.
Their products, including leather jackets, bags, and belts, are marketed as being crafted from "premium materials," and they aim to bring a "luxurious" look and feel to everyday guys like you and me.
When visiting their website and online storefront, it's clear that Lusso offers a wide variety of styles and customization options to suit different tastes and preferences.
On one hand, my exchange with the brand representative was quite pleasant and easygoing, and when I got the final product, it fit very well.
On the other hand, the website offers a vast variety of leather jackets, but most of them are, honestly, unappealing in terms of design and color choices (more on this later).
PROS:
- Numerous options.
- Offers made-to-measure/order options in addition to off-the-rack options, which are all direct-to-consumer.
- Excellent fit.
- Good return and exchange policies, along with a "guaranteed great fit" for custom orders (a 30-day money-back guarantee).
CONS:
- There are too many unappealing jacket options and styles.
- Online photos are poorly taken and don't effectively showcase the displayed products.
- Not entirely "bespoke" as advertised.
- Full-grain leather is mentioned, but the tag says "100% leather," which can be misleading.
- The jacket I received didn't smell like genuine leather, but rather like chemicals and dyes that filled and lingered in the room where I hung it.
- Unprofessional, low-quality storefront and website that fail to showcase a great product, with multiple misspellings and poor-quality stock photos instead of genuine images of artisans at work.
- Unclear styling options (e.g., leather & color options).
The one exception here is that Lusso has a better return and exchange policy overall because they promise to remake your custom jackets as many times as it takes to get the fit right (which is pretty reassuring).
The same can't be said for TJM, as they only offer one free alteration for custom garments and give zero refunds on custom orders.
I understand that this really matters to lots of people, and it might be enough to sway someone toward Lusso instead of TJM.
Granted, the gap between Lusso and TJM isn't vast by any means, and some of the complaints I list here are similar to those of TJM. However, I don't see why anyone would choose Lusso over TJM based on my experience with both so far.
Options Galore, However...
As mentioned, Lusso offers a huge selection of options for customers to choose from; however, most of them are rather unappealing.
I recognize that this is highly subjective and that everyone's tastes are different, but I couldn't find many options that aligned with my own personal tastes and style, despite the numerous available choices.
The absence of timeless and classic jacket styles is quite disappointing. While there are more eccentric and quirky options, such as fully leather blazers and long coats, there aren't any tried-and-true suede bombers or masculine suede trucker jackets that look both elegant and masculine.
I was able to compile a very short list of options that I actually liked, but if the style and overall build of the jacket were something I liked, it was ultimately hindered by color options that were bafflingly dull and just plain ugly.
There are no timeless tobacco suede trucker jackets or deep brown mocha bombers to speak of.
Instead, the browns tend more toward orange (and not in a good way), and if there is a classic-looking jacket in a versatile color, it is often ruined by random and eccentric hardware placement, with zippers, studs, and buttons in spots where they probably shouldn't be.
There doesn't appear to be anything quite like these classic and stylish leather jackets... and that's a real bummer.
Look, I think that trimming the fat here would be a great move, overall. I doubt that all of Lusso's jacket styles sell well, and I think that eliminating the "over-the-top" zany styles and replacing them with classic and timeless jacket types would be the best move.
Still, though, NOT having the classics as a part of the lineup is a missed opportunity for those men and women who have classic and traditional tastes (like myself).
Wait Time
Regarding the wait time to receive my made-to-order jacket, it took approximately five weeks from the submission of my preferences and measurements to the shipping of the actual jacket.
Made-to-Measure (a.k.a. "Custom Jacket")
For those looking for anything resembling "custom," made-to-measure garments often provide a more accessible price point for average men (and women) seeking a quality piece of clothing with a great fit that won't break the bank.
The made-to-measure process is typically conducted online and can range from extremely detailed, allowing for extensive feature customization, to NOT very detailed at all.
The manufacturer then submits your choices for production. The jacket's assemblers will take a series of pre-cut torsos, arms, and other components in your chosen fabric and tailor them to your submitted measurements.
Additional tailoring may be required to fine-tune the details and adjust the fit once your jacket arrives.
It is essential to note that tailoring leather jackets is slightly more challenging than tailoring more conventional garments, so be sure to choose a skilled tailor before they begin cutting and stitching your garment.
Much like TJM, I can see how Lusso gets away with describing its products as "bespoke."
Definitionally speaking, it isn't wrong.
However, in the realm of quality menswear, bespoke is the pinnacle experience, crafted by artisans such as Huntsman Bespoke on Savile Row or Alan David in New York.
Make no mistake, these are luxury services provided only by the MOST skilled craftsmen.
Of course, Lusso offers a variety of additional options, including a range of leather accessories. This brand offers a wide selection and is bursting with choices.
Hands-On the Product (My Custom Suede Trucker Jacket)
It took me a while to find something that I actually liked in terms of look, feel, and overall style.
Ultimately, I chose this River Black Suede Trucker Jacket because I didn't have any black leather jackets in my collection, and I really love the look of a suede trucker jacket in general (although I'm not too fond of the white stitching throughout).
Aside from the color, though, this was the only type of jacket that looked appealing to me from Lusso's online storefront.
Even though I already have a tobacco-brown suede trucker jacket in my closet, if I wanted something classic and timeless like that, Lusso doesn't offer anything similar, except for a bright orange-looking suede trucker jacket (which isn't really brown).
I won't keep beating a dead horse, but the complete lack of design options that showcase classic and masculine styles here truly confuses me.
Lusso claims that every piece of hardware can be chosen to match the wearer's preferences, but attempting to exercise these options wasn't very clear to me, either on the website or when speaking with the sales representative.
The representative did ask me how I wanted the leather "to feel," whether softer and more supple or thicker and more structured, which I thought was a nice touch.
So I made my choice, submitted my measurements to the representative, and it took quite a while to get the final product (again, nearly two months).
I'm certainly willing to wait for a quality made-to-measure garment, but what I received was interesting, to say the least.
- Outer Shell: Made with 100% Sheep Suede Leather
- Leather Type: Lambskin is a soft and lightweight leather. If you prefer a thicker and heavier leather, then you can upgrade to Cowhide leather.
- Inside Lining: Satin Polyester
- Closure Style: Buttoned Closure
- Collar Style: Shirt
- Cuffs Style: Open Hem buttoned cuffs
- Inside Pockets: 1 pocket inside
- Outside Pockets: Two functional buttoned pockets
- Color: Get this jacket made in 50+ different colors by selecting the customize options.
How Are the Customization Options?
When you choose the "Custom Size" option for your jacket, the following message appears.
From my experience, the only way to see the over 50 different color options is to visit the website's page titled "Leather Color Swatch" and view the options there.
And since the swatch shows no orange suede leather options, I can only conclude that this is Lusso's tan or beige suede choice (which confirms my concern that there are no actual classic colorways like tobacco suede for this jacket type).
I want to clarify that the representative I spoke with was very helpful and polite, again, checking in with me to see if I wanted to make any changes regarding the leather.
However, my situation is a bit unique because Lusso Leather reached out to ME first, not the other way around (so YOUR experience might not be the same as mine).
So, How's the Leather?
That's what I believe most people will be asking.
Lusso Leather has a fairly robust set of pages that detail the different types of leather and their origins, but they don't provide much information about THEIR specific leather.
All that they really have to say is the following (from their "Our Story" page):
There is an option to "Read More" below this description, but when you select it, you're taken directly to a blog post that explains WHAT leather is and WHERE it comes from...
It never mentions the use of full-grain or top-grain leather in the jackets (except for certain models, as part of their individual descriptions), such as the Custom Motorcycle Jacket.
Many of the descriptions of the leather I can find don't specify the exact quality of the leather, but instead use terms like "quality leather" or "100% leather."
A Crash-Course In Leather (Skip If You Don't Care)
"Real" or "100% leather" could mean all sorts of things. However, first, we need to understand a few key aspects about leather in general.
Full-grain leather is the good stuff. This complete and most natural animal hide provides the most durability for an item made from full-grain leather.
Additionally, goods manufactured from full-grain leather often retain richness in color and texture, a quality commensurate with premium leather products (see the following image).
In contrast, the lowest quality of leather, genuine leather, is more artificial and plastic-like (as depicted below).
Lusso Leather claims to use 100% leather, but that could very well mean "genuine leather."
I'll be the first to admit that my Lusso Leather jacket might very well "technically" be leather, and it is almost certainly NOT the highest-quality leather on the market (judging by how it feels compared to much higher-quality leather goods I have encountered).
Oh, and there's the smell...
The Smell
As soon as I unpacked my Lusso jacket, a strong smell hit me right away. It almost gave me a headache, to be honest.
I hung the jacket on a hanger in my office, and soon the whole room smelled like the jacket — a combination of leather and Sharpie.
The brand mentions on its website that chemicals and dyes are used in its jackets. Regardless of whether the European standards are met, I will be the first to tell you that the dyes used are too strong.
When I come across a leather jacket, I expect to smell something pleasing and fresh.
This was NOT that...
It took days for the smell to fade, which is unfortunate because it detracted from the overall experience I had.
Fit & Style
Here's what really surprised me about Lusso Leather: the fit.
I must say that the overall fit of this River Black Suede Trucker Jacket was quite excellent.
I honestly couldn't tell you how much thought or effort the artisans put into assembling these jackets to the measurements provided by the customers, as they aren't as transparent about their manufacturing processes as other made-to-order brands, such as Beckett Simonon.
But, Lusso got the job done and performed very well.
Color me impressed.
Lusso Leather Review: Closing Thoughts
Lusso Leather has a lot going for it. Tons of options, great return, exchange, and money-back guarantees, and above all, a great-fitting product.
Regardless of the "ground truth" in terms of leather quality, I believe that The Jacket Maker is a better-made-to-measure leather jacket brand than Lusso Leather, both in terms of price and overall quality.
You're likely to get a well-fitting garment either way, but the lack of transparency about Lusso's jackets and the many unappealing options (still subjective, I know) really dampened MY personal enthusiasm for Lusso altogether.
If you're set on ordering a specific jacket from Lusso Leather that you love the look and style of, then I think you'll be pleased with what you receive.
However, in my view, Lusso would be better off scaling down, investing in better quality leather, and offering classic and timeless variations with more traditional colorways.
The overwhelming number of options might seem like a strength for the brand, but I believe that focusing on better quality leather goods, better photos of authentic models wearing the garments, along with greater transparency about the team of artisans who are supposedly handcrafting these pieces with "quality to last for a lifetime," would go a long way in elevating Lusso Leather to a whole new level.
My main concern is the quality of the leather and the overall presentation, though.
After this experience, it just fell short of my personal standards and expectations. I had a much better experience with The Jacket Maker just a few months ago, so it's difficult for me to recommend Lusso Leather as a brand to spend your hard-earned money on when better options exist elsewhere.
It's good, just not great.
