They rule the racing track but now motocross jackets are roaring up the style charts too. Featuring patchworked leather with colourful racing insignia, motocross jackets, more commonly known as biker jackets, have become a surprising summer hit, as likely to be spotted on Lime-biking commuters as on track riders.
Last weekend at Glastonbury, Little Simz took to the Pyramid Stage in a black, red and white biker jacket emblazoned with her name. Over the four-day festival, the crowd was divided between team denim jacket and team biker.
The Austin Butler effect can also be credited with popularising the trend. In his latest film, The Bikeriders, the American actor spends most of his time in a battered motocross jacket revving around Chicago, Illinois with Jodie Comer and his biker crew, the Vandals.
The UK’s slightly changeable summer and June’s below average temperatures here have also meant people have been slow to abandon outerwear. A motocross jacket suddenly feels quite practical, as well as on trend.
While the high street has been quick to churn out cheap fake-leather versions made of plastic, those who want an authentic biker jacket rather than one that riffs on moto motifs have been turning to vintage shops and secondhand platforms.
Depop reports a 45% surge in search since January. When the actor Nicola Peltz Beckham was pictured in Paris in February wearing a biker jacket previously worn by her mother-in-law Victoria Beckham in 2001, searches shot up 50% on eBay.
Interest continues to grow in the category while some gen Z-ers are raiding their parents’ wardrobes as they embrace Y2K’s continuing reign.