Archive Drop 03 | Flight Jackets
Banana Republic Leather Flight Jackets
The January 2026 Vintage Drop offers Banana Republic outwear from the Safari Era and beyond, including several examples of leather flight jackets which had a prominent role in building the mystique of the original Banana Republic Travel & Safari Co.
Dashing and dramatic jackets have always been an essential part of the Banana Republic. The famous origin story of the company begins in 1978 when journalist Mel Ziegler returned from assignment in Australia wearing vintage surplus bush jacket. Impressed with the quality material and construction, his artist & designer wife Patricia modified the styling, adding different buttons and dashing elbow patches. Friends raved about it so much the couple quit their jobs and started a clothing company, complete with a unique illustrated catalog.
From the beginning, the classic US leather jacket, was an essential part of the BR catalog written and illustrated by the husband and wife team. Here we are almost 50 years later and the Leather Flight Jacket remains as timeless now as it was then….
Goatskin Flight Jacket (1982-1984)
The dark brown Goatskin Leather Flight Jacket was produced for BR by San Francisco’s Golden Bear Leather, known for exceptional quality and construction.
Mel Ziegler’s catalog copy described their design inspiration; the 1940s U.S. Navy pilot’s flight jacket, and their modern adjustments to the design– especially side-entry pockets, which were added because “…there were no handpockets, presumably because said appendages are occupied when you are aiming a P47 at the flight deck of a carrier.)” A number of WWII vets wrote in to say the correct fighter plane would have been a “Hellcat”, as future catalogs said.
The Leather Flight Jacket (1986-1987)
This warm brown leather jacket debuted in the Fall 1986 Catalog with a stunning colored pencil rendering by staff artist (and leather specialist) Peggy MacGovern.
“The classic leather flight jacket originally worn by Navy pilots (and now a collector’s item) had three limitations: the fur collar was occasionally too warm, the goatskin was so glossily finished that the jacket looked eternally brand-new; and there were no hand pockets. Our own version preserves the inside map pocket, bi-swing back, and underarm gussets-but we made the sheepskin collar detachable and added side-entry pockets. We chose velvety lambskin over goatskin, then buffed it so the jacket looks lived-in before its maiden flight.”