With their tattoos, leather jackets, slicked-backhair and beloved British motorbikes – BSAs, Triumphs, Nortons, and RoyalEnfields – Rockers are the nemesis and antithesis of the fastidiously groomedMods. Elvis, James Dean, and Marlon Brando, synonymous with rebellion, created the spark, the British Rockers of the 59 Club honed the rocker style and created a global cult.

30-Aug-10 13:48

August 25th saw Lewis Leathers host the launch party for the latest issue of Sideburn magazine.Despite the torrential rain we had a great turnout, alongside the latest issue of Sideburn was the debut appearance of the DSC/CFM custom painted Flat Tracker (see below).

26-Aug-10 21:29

Colour photographs of the 59 Club are hard to find so these stills from outside the old Paddington HQ are worth taking a look at. These images are from a short Pathe News Story on The Volunteer Emergency Service which shows the Ton Up Boys in a good light delivering blood to hospitals etc.

22-Aug-10 17:27

“Rockers, their chief instrument is Noise, in their music and their machines!
Group identity is established by bizarre motifs on their machines and clothes, admission to this group is via a Ton Up, that is, achieving a hundred miles an hour on their motorcycles…” ~according to the makers of Primitive London released in 1965.

At the end of the clip the narrator asks the young Rocker “If you could pass a law, what law would you pass”? his answer, appropriately enough, is “Well, better roads probably”

18-Aug-10 18:01

03-Aug-10 08:59

A couple of weeks ago, on the afternoon of their show in Hyde Park, the Hives dropped-in to see us in search of something new to wear this coming Autumn.

It took the best part of an hour to measure the boys up, all the time chatting and enjoying their boundless energy, finally the driver rapped on the window to inform them that it was time to go as they had to be onstage later in just over an hours time.

26-Jul-10 12:11

Andrew Bunney talking to Derek Harris Pt 2

Honeyee post a follow-up to their feature titled “The History of Lewis Leathers”. Continuing where they left off, part 2 goes into detail behind what the brand represented through the 60s and 70s, its importance to the world of motorcycles and its heritage as a British-made brand.

Andrew Bunney (A): Were any groups of young people going to Lewis Leathers specifically for the name by the ‘60s?

Derek Harris (D): There were other labels around like Mascot, Pride And Clarke, but Lewis Leathers was always the jacket to have partly through clever marketing, but also through the quality and styling.

The main thing was the 59 Club）, the motorcycle group set up by Father Bill Shergold. He was a motorcyclist, but he’d been watching all these kids dying trying to do ‘the ton’ and not understanding the danger they were in and not appreciating death. It was already called the 59 Club from 1959, but in 1962 he went up to the Ace Café and started handing out leaflets to come to this youth club in East London. They laughed at him a little bit, but they went on the first night and little by little more and more went and they would have dances. They would never try and force religion onto these kids, but they would council them and see if anything was wrong at home and they would work with the police and try and give these kids some sort of direction.

From late 1962, Lewis Leathers would go there, onto the stage in the church hall and take a load of jackets, badges and tape measures and measure up these kids – two weeks later they would come back with a jacket.

09-Jul-10 16:23

Stylist and Photographer, Hitomi Soeda, recently took the following photos of PunkStep Pioneers NOVA.

Nova were photographed by Hitomi wearing some items from the Lewis Leathers archive, the shots were taken in the yard of the Eton Mission, which as many will know, was the birthplace of the 59 Club and a venue which Lewis Leathers visited every fortnight loaded with goodies and made to measure jackets for the club members.

05-Jul-10 10:47

ANDREW BUNNEY INTERVIEWS DEREK HARRIS ABOUT LEWIS LEATHERS

The latest feature from honeyee has the popular Japanese site focusing on the history of Lewis Leathers with an in-depth interview alongside brand owner Derek Harris. Amongst the many topics, honeyee breaks down Harris’ involvement in the brand and how he managed to make Lewis Leathers into one of the UK’s most enduring companies. Andrew Bunney conducts the interview, which can be seen below.

*Above text courtesy of Hypebeast

29-Jun-10 21:27