FiveStar Leather Acquired a TYPE A-2 Pougkeepsie Leather

[Bombing IP]

FiveStar Leather Acquired a TYPE A-2 AC CONTRACT No. W535ac28560 Pougkeepsie Leather COAT CO. INC. A-2 Jacket from a Good Friend Mr. Jonathan, and soon we will start working on its reproduction, any further details about this Contract and any suggestions from members and friends here will be highly appreciated

This happened on the 23rd Feb 2021 another maker to look forward to !.

BIP

 

[flyincowboy]

Waiting to see the prototype as well as the star model like to see them made with HH leather.

 

[mulceber]

I’m almost certainly going to buy one of his Poughkeepsie repros. I was tempted by the Star, but I think @Nnatalie might murder me if I bought a second Star Sportswear A-2...

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Sorry to but in here but Shawn, for f*ck sake can't you design something of your own for a change?
I've just looked at the range of Aero copies on your website
It's taken 40 years to gather these but I'm hardy surprised, Ralph Lauren and many others copied us (far better) long before you but at least they made up their own names for the styles they'd ripped off

Do me ONE favour.................. at least stop using our product names, Bootlegger for starters, go buy a thesuarus and get you own names

Remember this..............without my initial recomendation where would you stand on this forum, you'd still be making jackets for AVI for next to nothing

 

[Kennyz]

This is exciting news BIP - Thanks!

Ken

 

[Bombing IP]

I’m almost certainly going to buy one of his Poughkeepsie repros. I was tempted by the Star, but I think @Nnatalie might murder me if I bought a second Star Sportswear A-2...

Jan have Shawn make you another Star and have him put a Werber label in it ,it will be our secret .While I am here hows the weather in your bathroom .

BIP

 

[mulceber]

Jan have Shawn make you another Star and have him put a Werber label in it ,it will be our secret .While I am here hows the weather in your bathroom .

BIP

Still snowy - which is weird because the weather outside has been above freezing the past few days.

 

[Bombing IP]

Shawn I am in agreement with Ken re the copying of jackets, I know some of the patterns are made by a lot of other companies .But you have got to make up your own names for the jackets you make, and create differences so its a Five Star mix it up a little . Five Star needs to have its own identity for the company to have a respectable standing within the jacket market .Otherwise you will always be known as the company that copies others and makes a cheaper version but has no ideas of its own . I am of course talking about civilian jackets , the past 100 years have produced a lot of designs form many different countries do not limit yourself to copying others ,bad move my friend . Do some research and bring us something new trades sports outdoors and 250 countries with different fashion there has to be something that would tick all the boxes .Is their a college that teaches fashion ,contact the college introduce yourself to the faculty and then the class and tell them you will make a jacket for the person with the best design . You will of course have a bundle of designs handed in to consider which will be fresh and free from copyright "and maybe make" . This will give you a direct line to the pulse of young people and what they like . Do this every year with the new students ,they are not constrained by convention they are free spirits with new thinking and experiment with new materials . May be a good source for future designers for your company . But in the end its not for me to tell you how to run your company this is just my humble opinion you do what you think is right .

Jeff

 

[busdrivermike]

Wow the fivestar flight jacket catalog is just growing and growing
I love that people are sending jackets to Shawn to be replicated
Giving him the ability to be even more accurate in his reproductions
As a non historical person, is there anything special about
The Poughkeepsie A2 variant ?

 

[foster]

...is there anything special about The Poughkeepsie A2 variant ?

There was one large contract awarded to Poughkeepsie, and they made a nice looking A-2. In general appearance, it resembles A-2’s made by Aero, although it’s still it’s own pattern with its own nuances.
Poughkeepsie was effectively shut down for failing to deliver on other military contacts they received, but IMHO they made a functional and appealing A-2 jacket.

 

[Flightengineer]

Maybe it's time for Shawn to make this new A2 from good horsehide? I know several of my colleagues who, due to the fact that they are big or tall guys, can't buy A2 for reasonable money from such expensive companies as ELC. Platon with his standart sizes also can't help them, perhaps 5 stars could be their good chance.

 

[ausreenactor]

Maybe it's time for Shawn to make this new A2 from good horsehide? I know several of my colleagues who, due to the fact that they are big or tall guys, can't buy A2 for reasonable money from such expensive companies as ELC. Platon with his standart sizes also can't help them, perhaps 5 stars could be their good chance.

Even if the price increases a little. This will be a big win for the big boys..

 

[Flightengineer]

Even if the price increases a little. This will be a big win for the big boys..

100% !

 

[Enigma1938]

Maybe it's time for Shawn to make this new A2 from good horsehide?

That's what I've been saying all the time.

 

[MrProper]

I may be getting something wrong here because my english is really bad. In this case please ignore my post ;-)
When Shawn makes an A-2, there are tons of comments that this and that detail is not 1000% correct.
When he then buys correct jackets as a sample in order to come as close as possible to it, comments come in that he shouldn't copy, but rather do something independent.
Or do you differentiate between types of jackets?
A-2 -> copy is good, the more precise the better.
Civil jacket -> copy is evil?
Or is it really just about the names of the models?
I think 5* has been making some custom models lately at the request of some customers.
But yes, 5* is a producer and not (yet?) a designer forge.
If 5* uses a model name, it will almost certainly be suggested by the customer. At least Shawn always asked me what the names of my "creations" should be.

And of course I can understand Ken's point of view and might react in a similar way myself.
I also wish Shawn that with 5* he can create his own identity that is beyond "just" producing. He invests a lot in commitment and passion for that.

 

[ausreenactor]

The comments related to civilian designs by retailers such as Aero, and using the proprietary names for the new FiveStar reproduction jackets...

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

The comments related to civilian designs by retailers such as Aero, and using the proprietary names for the new FiveStar reproduction jackets...

Correct

The term "Barnstormer" being an example, Before 1985 these D/B Coats had never had a generic name. We dreamt that one up in 5 mins over a cup of coffee one morning, the term is now the definitive name for the style. Flattered not pissed off on that one I suppose
"
Bootlegger, Hooch Hauler, Moonshiner, Teamster, Hudson, Thunder Bay etc etc took a lot more thought, HIghwayman was borrowed" from a defunct outfit in 1983 but now Registered Aero Trademark design

How would I feel if I was Mr Schott about the use of the term "Perfecto", equally peeved I believe, and rightly so. BTW We have never referred to a Cross Zip as a Perfecto

Pinching names is like lifting pics of the Aeromarine off the Aero site and putting the 5 Star logo on top of the "borrowed" picture and posting it on ebay & Amazon...................which is how the whole story started and how I came across Shawn in the first place

The rest, as the saying goes, is history

 

[mulceber]

As a non historical person, is there anything special about
The Poughkeepsie A2 variant ?

In addition to what’s been mentioned above, JC has also commented that he’s never seen a civilian jacket made by Poughkeepsie. They’re actually somewhat mysterious.

Maybe it's time for Shawn to make this new A2 from good horsehide? I know several of my colleagues who, due to the fact that they are big or tall guys, can't buy A2 for reasonable money from such expensive companies as ELC. Platon with his standart sizes also can't help them, perhaps 5 stars could be their good chance.

Shawn is actually in the middle of developing a horsehide for the Star he just acquired and I think is planning to develop one to match the Poughkeepsie as well.

The comments related to civilian designs by retailers such as Aero, and using the proprietary names for the new FiveStar reproduction jackets...

Actually, I think it’s even a little broader than civi vs. military: copy all you want from companies that are out of business, but it’s bad form to copy a company that’s still around. We’re just lucky(?) that none of the original A-2 manufacturers still exist, except for Spiewak.

 

[Chandler]

...copy all you want from companies that are out of business, but it’s bad form to copy a company that’s still around.

But... aren't the jackets from repro manufacturers just copies in and of themselves? Or am I missing something? Copying copies is bad?

 

[mulceber]

Put it this way: copying Aero A-2s is just fine, as long as you're copying an original. Making your pattern from one of Aero Scotland's repros would be bad form. Likewise, if Shawn or anyone else wanted to make a repro of a Buco jacket, that's fine, because Buco isn't around anymore. If Buco (or for that matter, Aero NY) were still around and offering these styles, then it would be sketchy.