Rough and retro
When it comes to motorcycling, each type of riding has its unique style. Motocrossers gear up in multicolored jerseys. Sport bikers don one-piece racing suits. Harley riders favor chaps and fringe. For the most part, the clothing is new and easy to find.
But when it comes to vintage motorcycling, riders are at the mercy of what has survived decades of wind, rain and occasional brushes with pavement. The result: slim pickings.
“You don’t find ‘em,” said Justin Kell, co-founder of Glory Utility, a new line of retro motorcycle wear patterned on styles from the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s. “They got ripped apart by moths. They got crashed in. They got battery acid spilled on ‘em. They’re not around.
“I hate wearing my old stuff because I can’t replace it, but it’s so much better than anything else I can get,” added Kell, who refers to modern motorcycle wear as “rodeo clown outfits.”
Faced with limited options, Kell decided to launch his own line with business partner Gregory Westbrook. In June, they began selling hand-stitched wool sweaters, denim riding pants and cafe racing leathers. All the styles are based on old patterns, and all are made in the United States by specialty manufacturers.
Kell, 33, is also owner of Glory, a Los Feliz store that specialized in ‘50s kitsch antiques when it opened in February 2000. At that time, about 10% of his business revolved around classic motorcycles, and much of that business came from sales of Davida retro helmets and various logo T-shirts.
But three years later, that business mix has flipped. Although Kell didn’t intentionally make the switch, these days almost all of his sales revolve around bikes.
“Our customers did it for us,” he said. “We just went with what people wanted and what people were coming in here for. That’s how the clothing thing started.”
Kell is selling his new Utility line at Glory, which for the past few years has offered vintage motorcycle wear and is never without a premium old bike in its front window. Whenever vintage items went out on the floor, they sold immediately and were hard to replace.
The few goggles and racing suits Kell was able to find at swap meets and thrift stores weren’t enough to meet demand -- a demand that’s been growing along with the renewed interest in classic British bikes such as Triumph and BSA.
“The people that are buying vintage bikes now are going after more than just the motorcycle itself,” said Kell, who is such a fan of old bikes that he named his son Norton after the classic and now defunct English sport bike manufacturer. “They’re going after the whole image, the whole lifestyle that goes around it.”
That lifestyle dictates the details in Glory Utility’s clothing, all of which was designed to accommodate motorcyclists’ special needs. Because jeans hike up when riders have their feet on the foot pegs, Glory’s jeans compensate with extra length in the leg; the triple seam and rivets, which would normally appear on the inside of the pant leg, have been moved to the outside so they won’t rub against and scratch the gas tank.The attention to detail doesn’t come cheap. Sweaters retail for $225 to $240, jeans for $85 to $125, belts $65 to $85. Jackets will run $700 to $800. The upside: Some items can be custom-made.
Though pricey, that’s in line with and possibly even less than what the same items would cost if they were decades-old originals, presuming they could even be found.
“When it comes to men’s specialty vintage clothing, it’s so much more difficult because guys don’t go through their clothes like women do,” said Katy Rodriguez, co-owner of Resurrection, a vintage couture shop on Melrose Avenue.
“People that ride motorcycles and are really into it, it’s the kind of thing where the guy might have the same jacket for 20 years.”
Rodriguez said her business partner used to collect old bikes, adding, “It was hard just to find the motorcycles, let alone to find the clothes....It doesn’t surprise me that a new manufacturer would want to do the best of the best because it’s so hard to find good vintage.”
Glory Utility hopes to bring that past back to the present.
“We’re guys who ride bikes just making something we need,” Kell said. “If none of it works and we go bankrupt and I get one of these sweaters out of it, it’ll be all right.”
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Glory Utility
Where: Glory, 4659 Hollywood Blvd.,
Los Angeles
When: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 12-5 p.m. Sunday
Cost: Sweaters $225-$240; jeans $85-$125; leather jackets $700-$800; belts $65-$85; caps $25; T-shirts $22
Info: (323) 644-5679 or www.glorysales.com.
