Schott NYC

Schott NYC's place in clothing history rests on hardware as much as on leather. The company was the first to put a zipper on a jacket, at a time when jackets closed with buttons and a zip was a novelty fastening. On an outerwear garment a zipper changes everything: it seals faster, holds against wind, and can be worked with gloves on, which is why the idea suited motorcycling and military use. Founded in New York City in 1913 by brothers Irving and Jack Schott, the company built from that practical base, making clothing for the United States Military during World War II and later for American law enforcement, two customers whose specifications reward durability and function over decoration.

The Perfecto, designed and produced by Irving Schott in 1928 and named after his favorite cigar, gathered those ideas into one famous garment. The jackets were made out of horsehide, with a belted front, a D-pocket, a flap change pocket, zippered sleeve cuffs and shoulder epaulettes. Each feature answers a rider's need: horsehide resists abrasion, the belt seals the waist against wind, zippered cuffs close around gloves, and pockets are shaped for use on a motorcycle. The Perfecto became popular in culture through films such as The Wild One in 1953, where the jacket came to stand for a whole style of American independence, and that screen image carried a work garment into permanent fashion.

Family Ownership and American Manufacturing

Schott NYC is still owned by the Schott family and still manufactures much of its clothing in the United States. In an industry where most historic names have been sold, licensed or moved offshore, family continuity from 1913 is itself a defining fact, because it keeps design decisions, archive patterns and production knowledge inside one house. A customer buying a Perfecto pattern is buying a design whose line runs unbroken from Irving Schott's 1928 jacket, not a revival assembled from photographs.

For researchers, the Schott record separates three contributions that are often blurred together: the zipper as a jacket fastening, the Perfecto as a designed product with a dated origin and a named designer, and the company as a military and law-enforcement supplier that remained a family manufacturer in New York. Motorcycle, military and fashion histories all pass through those facts, which is why Schott NYC is one of the most cited American outerwear makers in any clothing directory.