BK proudly presents "The Aeronaut"

[John Lever]

Oh no no...Aero took over a decade to have the jacket made. Ken bought the jacket just before he retired and so the jacket was forgotten for years and years,though I did badger Will every couple of years to make a copy for me. So the first person in to instigate interest in a reproduction was me when I spotted a poorly listed gem on eBay 14 years ago long before anyone else was making one. At that time only LW and Aero were making A-1's, and I don't think there was much demand.
Ken knew it was a beautiful design and always planned to produce it but his involvement at Aero became semi-retirement. When Ken returned to the factory one of his first projects was to get the jacket made. He even had some special leather reserved for the project.
I like the pointed pockets and those 'spade ' shaped ones on my Menlo even more. Many of these jackets lacked a lining , I wonder why ? It does make the arms difficult to put on but there must be a reason. Some lovely old buckles would look good on the waist belts. The ones on my Airmotive would be perfect.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh no no...Aero took over a decade to have the jacket made. Ken bought the jacket just before he retired and so the jacket was forgotten for years and years,though I did badger Will every couple of years to make a copy for me. So the first person in to instigate interest in a reproduction was me when I spotted a poorly listed gem on eBay 14 years ago long before anyone else was making one. At that time only LW and Aero were making A-1's, and I don't think there was much demand.
Ken knew it was a beautiful design and always planned to produce it but his involvement at Aero became semi-retirement. When Ken returned to the factory one of his first projects was to get the jacket made. He even had some special leather reserved for the project.
I like the pointed pockets and those 'spade ' shaped ones on my Menlo even more. Many of these jackets lacked a lining , I wonder why ? It does make the arms difficult to put on but there must be a reason. Some lovely old buckles would look good on the waist belts. The ones on my Airmotive would be perfect.

Hi John,
I know Ken had the jacket for years but did not bother to make it. The moment he decided, a couple of days later it was ready. You can't call the 14 years that it sat in his closet development stage. There's something else to be said about this, but I will say it to you privately later.

Yes true, many originals didn't have a liner but we decided to put one in this to show we can do also plaid.

Regarding development stage, I will start a new thread to show you what means development.

 

[John Lever]

I was trying to explain the long history and sudden interest in this style. No one owns the design...just thought it might be of interest. BTW what is your delivery time ?

 

[omarco]

isn't it a little like apple and the iPad? they didn't invent the concept of the tablet per'se but they did bring it to market and make people interested, that's what himel did with this design imho.

Platon I like yours a lot, and pocket option number 2 looks perfect for me.

 

[omarco]

BTW what is your delivery time ?

and price?

 

[Anonymous]

Guys I will reply to all your questions a bit later 'cause now I gotta run.

 

[Anonymous]

Delivery for Victory horsehide October or later
Delivery for Badalassi cowhide August
Delivery for Capeskin August
Delivery for Maltese goatskin July

Prices, no idea yet but will know sometime this week.

 

[havocpaul]

Looks really good, love the design. I can't see how Aero can have any issues with the design or name in particular, they surely can't stop the use of the word 'aeronaut' just because it contains the word 'aero', Aeronaut is a great name and perfectly sums up the 1920/30's.

 

[Anonymous]

Notice also the correct period union label. Others have the later 1940s version.

 

[Anonymous]

What options do you have for the lining?

We can do:
100% cotton solid colors,
100% cotton plaid (various patterns available)
100% Scottish wool tartan fabric (various patterns available)

 

[unclegrumpy]

I tend to agree with John about the Aero name.

From a marketing standpoint, while maybe not as authentic, I think you would be better served selecting one brand name....like Bill Kelso or BK or ?. Then have the different models as a subset.

That way the first thing out of someone's mouth when asked who made the cool jacket they are wearing...A-2, A-1, Civilian or fashion is always Bill Kelso. If you think about it, most of us answer that question Eastman, Goodwear, Aero, BK, Buzz or whatever brand name first, then if someone cares, or knows, then the model or maker.

Right now, you probably have more models than anyone else, but not the brand recognition. Why risk confusing the issue with lots of different names, and maybe in the process, letting someone else, like Aero Leathers, get the credit for your hard work?

 

[John Lever]

I think use of Aero is similar to keyword spamming on eBay and is misleading.It used to be against the rules,these days everybody does it and search results are often useless.
From a marketing standpoint it lacks originality.

 

[Anonymous]

From a marketing standpoint it lacks originality.

Really?
Well, the dictionary says:

aer·o·naut
/ˈe(ə)rəˌnôt/

Noun
A traveler in a hot-air balloon, airship, or other flying craft.

Synonyms
Balloonist - aviator

That sounds very original to me. The word should have been first used when the first flying crafts were out.
On the other hand, "Aeromarine" isn't even a word man. The dictionary does not have it.

I think use of Aero is similar to keyword spamming on eBay and is misleading.

Really? and when I look for "Rough Wear" on ebay, what should I expect to find? original, GW, ELC or BK?

I think anybody who can read and understand English and has an IQ better than that of a carrot will not have a problem to make the distinctions.

 

[ausreenactor]

Looks really good, love the design. I can't see how Aero can have any issues with the design or name in particular, they surely can't stop the use of the word 'aeronaut' just because it contains the word 'aero', Aeronaut is a great name and perfectly sums up the 1920/30's.

I'm with you Paul. There are thousands of jacket designs out there, and every one of them needs a cool name. I like it. I was thinking 'steam punk' myself. But suits the 20/30s era as well. Howard Hughes would have looked great in one!

Couchy

 

[Anonymous]

...every one of them needs a cool name.

Yeah man!

And let's not forget that the Transatlantic Clothing Company of Scotland "borrowed" the name Aero from Aero NY.

 

[Dr H]

...who gave it, in turn, to a rather tasty form of bubbled chocolate bar.

 

[unclegrumpy]

I think anybody who can read and understand English and has an IQ better than that of a carrot will not have a problem to make the distinctions.

This is the flaw in your argument....assuming how much a potential customer may or may not know.

Most of your potential customers I think fall into two categories....either more money than brains or more brains than money. One of your ongoing sales issues has been the broke smart guys rave about your jackets, but you are not tapping into a sufficient number of carrots with fat wallets.

I think all John is saying is if you want to harvest more carrots before someone else does, don't confuse them.

 

[John Lever]

From a marketing standpoint it lacks originality.

Really?
Well, the dictionary says:

aer·o·naut
/ˈe(ə)rəˌnôt/

Noun
A traveler in a hot-air balloon, airship, or other flying craft.

Synonyms
Balloonist - aviator

That sounds very original to me. The word should have been first used when the first flying crafts were out.
On the other hand, "Aeromarine" isn't even a word man. The dictionary does not have it.

I think use of Aero is similar to keyword spamming on eBay and is misleading.

Really? and when I look for "Rough Wear" on ebay, what should I expect to find? original, GW, ELC or BK?

I think anybody who can read and understand English and has an IQ better than that of a carrot will not have a problem to make the distinctions.

Just think that using Aero is riding on someone else's success. Not sure but I think Aero is a registered trademark. Also the assumption that these were aviator jackets may be completely incorrect. There is a thread over on TFL about 1920's jackets with very many advertisements for very similar designs, almost all are referred to as Sportsmen's jackets and the illustrations show models wearing them for golf,shooting and riding motorbikes.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthre ... -the-1920s

 

[Anonymous]

One last thing guys. Names are just names, not worth bothering much about it. We don't sell names, we sell jackets.
I don't think anybody here believes BK wanted to steal anything from Aero by using the prefix aero in the name.

Other candidate names for this were "the Argonaut", "Ikarus" etc etc. But "Aeronaut" sounded better for the job.
That's all. If you want to call it something else go ahead. Or if anyone wants to propose a better name BK will consider it.
Just make sure to click the right button when ordering it :lol:

 

[Dr H]

...or Newburgh...

but on reflection Aeronaut has got more swagger...