The Only Outerwear Trend I'll Be Wearing This Spring
Sometime around 2011, I stumbled across a vintage mid-calf, lightweight black leather coat whose cuffs and collar were lined in faux fur. At the time, it was the furthest I could get from my daily uniform of Charlotte Russe sweaters and American Eagle denim. But there was something alluring about the coat (maybe it's the fact that it was the chicest looking thing I had ever encountered) that compelled me to buy it. I like to think it was that moment that cemented my style transition from a beach-going L.A. native to the more sophisticated New York style I've come to adopt.
As my style changed, so too did my opinions on leather jackets. Far too often we think of a leather jacket as your everyday classic moto, but this upcoming spring is proving that the material is so much more versatile than you might imagine. Leather blazers, leather shackets, leather puffer coats, leather trench coats… I feel like a kid in a candy store rifling through all of the leather outerwear options that are hitting the shelves.
Suffice it to say, this outwear trend is the only one I'll be wearing this spring. Not a bad idea considering there are enough iterations to last me until the summer solstice. Shop ahead to see the 25 leather coats you should start stocking up on, stat.
Puffers
This coat manages to look both cozy and chic at the same time.
Forget the moto jacket—the leather puffer is the new spring staple.
Blazers
This buttery soft blazer is the perfect lightweight jacket for spring.
We love a blazer that will look just as good paired with jeans and a basic white tee as it will in the boardroom.
Shackets
Anything Kendall Jenner can wear, I can attempt to wear better.
If I wasn't convinced about the shacket trend before, I sure am now.
Longline Coats
Longline leather trench coats are what fully sold me on the leather outerwear trend.
As proven by Alyssa Coscarelli, this might be the perfect spring jacket.
Can the upcoming The Matrix 4 film give Neo a chic white leather coat upgrade?
Belted Jackets
The ideal throw-on-and-go jacket for when the spring weather can't make up its mind.
Attention designers, please make more leather jackets in this color!
Cropped Jackets
I could count the many ways I love this shearling trimmed jacket, but unfortunately, the word count would be too damn high.
I'll be wearing this cropped cutie with all of my miniskirts come spring.
Oversize-Fit Jackets
I'm of the mind that Ganni can do no wrong. This faux-leather jacket just proves my theory.
This vintage-inspired silhouette is made cooler with the sleeve-tie detailing.
Up next, bye-bye beige—it's all about this "boring" color in 2020.
Ray Lowe is a contributing editor for Who What Wear. She's spent the last decade living in New York, but now that she professionally works from home, she's slowly been going back to her roots by splitting time between NYC and L.A. A year ago, she left a four-year stint as a fashion editor for Refinery29 to explore the freelance life. Nowadays, she does just about everything from penning online articles (for Who What Wear, Refinery29, Elle, Cosmo, and many more) to writing scripts, styling, and finding ways to fuse her love for both Disney and fashion. Her main beat is fashion (trends, emerging brands, affordable finds, you name it), but you may find her dropping in with a beauty story every now and then. As for her personal style, she'd best describe it as a balanced blend of basics and contemporary trends, often with a dash of Mickey Mouse thrown in for good measure. In her spare time, she can be found coddling my pets (a French bulldog and a rescue cat), curating travel itineraries for her friends, scrolling through Instagram for up-and-coming brands, and watching so-bad-they're-good films.
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