VA-VA VROOM! : Motorcycle Jackets--With Their Black Leather Attitude and Industrial-Strength Hardware--Are Going Whole Hog, Straddling the Line Between the Streets and the Runways.

Throw on a motorcycle jacket and you’re slipping on a new persona.

The staid accountant or conservative lawyer no longer, you’ve been transformed into a fast-riding, free-wheeling spirit. You’re Marlon Brando living on the edge in “The Wild One.” A street-tough biker dude. An urban warrior.

Yes, a motorcycle jacket can do all that.

It’s the black leather. It’s those industrial zippers. It’s the functional styling.

Whatever it is, the motorcycle jacket has now gone from utilitarian garment worn by cyclists to a fashion statement. For several seasons it’s been riding rampant down the runways of Paris, New York and Milan.

Donna Karan, Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein and most major designers have done their interpretation of the classic motorcycle jacket.

“Now every famous designer has interpreted the motorcycle look,” says Denis La Bonge, president of Intersport in Orange, which designs most of the leather apparel carried by Harley-Davidson dealers.

“The motorcycle jacket has gone from a hard-core street look to a necessary item in your wardrobe.”

People have discovered the jacket’s power to turn even wimps into road warriors. “It does something when you put on that leather. It lends an aura of strength,” La Bonge says. “That’s been true since man first put on animal skins to go out of the cave and hunt.”

The original motorcycle jackets roared into existence many millennia later. Irving Schott created the Perfecto leather jacket for a Harley-Davidson dealer in 1927. After the Depression, people turned to motorcycles for cheap transportation and donned the look.

“The jackets became ‘the look’ for motorcyclists,” La Bonge says.

After peaking in popularity in the ‘50s, motorcycle jackets lost their appeal during the polyester leisure suit era of the ‘70s so that only true cyclists wore them. Not until recently have they turned into street fashion.

Patrick Gates, merchandise manager of menswear for Barneys New York, credits the jacket’s revival with the return of the motorcycle itself.

“In the past six or seven years the affluent have come to feel it’s trendy to ride great motorcycles,” Gates says.

Even those who don’t ride want the biker look.

“Fashion has become a lot harder. Cities are tougher, and people are not dressing as glamorous,” Gates says. “They don’t want shine or glitz.”

Ray Malzo, owner of Orange County Harley-Davidson in Santa Ana, figures 15% to 20% of those who buy motorcycle jackets don’t ride. He sells the authentic versions for $200 to $500.

“A true motorcycle jacket doesn’t have the softest, cushiest leather,” Malzo says. “The leather has to be the more durable cowhides for protection. You can tell the difference by touching. Some of the jackets look great but they’re not good for riding. They’d probably shred if you fell off the bike.”

The jacket’s distinguishing features include a belted waist, diagonal zip-up front and pockets, a pleated back panel for leaning forward comfortably on a bike and strictly-for-looks epaulets on the shoulder--a holdover from military jackets.

Designers have updated the classic to make it more of a fashion piece, according to Dana Walker, assistant fashion coordinator for Nordstrom in Orange County.

“They’re (creating) fringe on the bottom of the sleeve, lace-up details and top-stitching,” she says.

Some have added Versace-inspired cut-outs adorned with gold grommets at the jackets’ neck and shoulders.

Andrew Marc designed a motorcycle jacket in soft brown leather with belted cuffs that ties in front ($595) that can be paired with leather leggings, available at Nordstrom in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, Brea Mall or Main Place/Santa Ana. Vakko’s clean-looking black motorcycle jacket has lace-up cuffs, gold grommet details and no belt ($340).

The newest silhouette for spring is the motorcycle vest--a sleeker version of the jacket without sleeves. Nordstrom has one model by Vakko with zip-up front and zipper around the collar for $285. The vests can go casual with street clothes or career with a long slim skirt, Walker says.

“Designers are taking the original concept of the motorcycle jacket and making it extremely clean,” Gates says.

“They’re removing all the unnecessary zippers and turning it into a modern, simple-looking jacket. It’s evolved. The less clutter the better.”

Barneys in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa, carries Donna Karan’s motorcycle jacket for women, a no-frills version with zippered cuffs ($1,195) as well as her stripped-down vest ($495) with zipper front, zippered collar--and no other ornamentation.

Some designers, including Karan and Armani, are making the jackets out of soft suede.

“It’s absolutely butter-soft--not as tough as the leather. It drapes more,” Gates says.

One sure sign that the jackets have become status symbols: trendy Planet Hollywood in Santa Ana sells its version as hip souvenirs. The jacket is made of worn-looking black leather and comes adorned with the Planet Hollywood logo and motorcycle patches ($425).

“Motorcycle jackets are everywhere--people love them,” says Jill Jurkowitz, spokeswoman for Planet Hollywood.

At Garys & Company in Fashion Island Newport Beach, the “real Marlon Brando-ish” motorcycle jacket by Avirex ($475) often appeals to the Orange County man in midlife crisis, according to manager Steven Ramenofsky.

“Maybe they just want to relive a time when they were a little more carefree, not as responsible,” Ramenofsky says. “They can wear a motorcycle jacket on Saturday, go off on the open road, and leave it all behind for a few hours. Then it’s back to work in a suit on Monday.”