OUR CEO & FOUNDER
Hi all, I’m Leilah and I’m obsessed with leather jackets.
My interest started around 2008 when I purchased my first ever vintage leather jacket - a B-3 aviation bomber from an online auction site. It was a thing of beauty. I remember immediately noticing how the quality was so profoundly superior compared to anything that was available on the current market at the time. Since then, I can’t count how many vintage leather jackets I have held in my possession but I’ll wager a bet that it’s above the 250 mark. These days I’m able to identify a jackets brand in a nanosecond, the hide it’s made out of from 10 feet away and the timestamp of a jackets creation by looking at the hardware that runs through it. Pretty nerdy, I know. I’m proud of it.
It was mid-pandemic and I was living in suburban New York when one evening I decided to post a picture of a few jackets I had in my collection. I accidentally stumbled across an entire subculture of leather/workwear enthusiasts. My kindred spirits, if you will, who have undeniably quenched my thirst for jacket porn in picture content for the last three years - cheers guys. However, it didn’t take me long to notice that all of the incredible leather jackets I had seen being worn were only marketed toward men. I was going to change that, so I filled a sketchpad full of designs, each annotated with panel cuttings, hide and hardware choices.
Upon returning to the UK, I found myself in London’s East End, sketchpad in tow, attempting to sell myself as a budding designer to the head office of a large Highstreet chain that were famous for leather outerwear (no names, take a wild guess...) Alas, as I didn’t have a design degree, I was given a pat on the back and notified of vacancies in the stockroom.
Throughout 2023 I travelled the globe in hunt for the best leather tanneries and found my team of expert craftsmen who have become a treasured part of the Rugged West crew. From the outset, I knew that we needed to create jackets that were going to supersede what was already on the market, in every way. Jackets that not only turned heads, but were a lifetime companion for the owner.
It’s time for us to reach you all. We can’t wait for you to join the family.
- Leilah Osman, CEO & Founder of Rugged West