This is the story of 2 Indy fans, and their quest for a RAIDERS jacket, made locally, at an affordable price.
First, I would like to thank friends, who unselfish and so kindly collaborated with me on this project:
MOD EDIT: 3 names removed based on the posted rule: viewtopic.php?f=23&t=13312" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
indydude18 (Adrian), Arsenero (Carlos) and Martin Salvador. Some of them you may know, some you don't. Anyway, it's very important to me that I give them the public credit they deserve.
To begin the story, it is necessary to know some facts we consider important about this jacket.
The look of the jacket used in Raiders of the Lost Ark is very particular, because of its fit, due to the patterns used to make it, and because of the lightness and movement of the type of leather in which it was made out. It also has a characteristic texture, especially when compared with the jackets in the other films. You can see some details in the film that indicate the type of leather used in this jacket.
This image was the trigger for this project:
Here you can see the striations of the skins, which are merely marks of the ribs, typical of the leather of a particular animal: the merino sheep.
Until the arrival of the "Raiders" jackets by Tony Nowak in 2008 (made from a hero jacket used by Harrison Ford during the filming) the options available in the market were approximate, but not exact. Nowak's was the most accurate version of the jacket, but the cost was for a few (U$D1200).
Thereafter born this project, which seeks to obtain the most accurate replica, according to our opinion, at the lowest possible price.
This is the story of our latest attempt to achieve a jacket, at an acceptable cost, Raiders style, as faithfully as possible. After nearly four years of study, work, trial and error. And more trial and error. And more and more error...
YEAR 2008
By the end of that year, Tony Nowak begins offering authentic replica of a jacket used by Harrison Ford during the filming of Raiders, in 1980, which was held by George Lucas himself, and was given to him to examine.
Tony succeeded to accurately replicate the patterns, and provided a leather closer to the original compared to those available on the market back then.
This jacket was used in the scenes filmed on location in Hawaii (known to fans as the "HAWAII JACKET"), as well as the scenes at Imam's house.
YEAR 2009
Earlier this year we began to analyze information and images on the model, based on the films, and measurements and images of Raiders jackets provided by Tony Nowak.
Our goal was not to make another copy of the same jacket, but, from the newly acquired knowledge, recreating the one we call the "MAIN HERO JACKET" which appears throughout most of the film, in scenes such as the inside of the temple Hovito, the fight at the Raven Bar, the scenes in "The Well of Souls", the flying wing fight, the persecution of the truck, and others.
The jacket we were looking for was the one used in all of our favorite scenes, which highlighted the lightness of the leather as Indy moved in fights, jumps and escapes, with a behavior more like that of a fabric than leather.
That meant that we would make a different jacket. The one in motion. The one that we believe defines Indiana Jones.
YEAR 2010
The type of leather required for this project is very special, so we started our search in the argentinian Patagonia, where this particular sheep is bred; Merino sheep. Also came into contact with suppliers in Italy, where are found some if the best leathers in the world. We started to collect samples of every tannery we found, but none convinced us that much...
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Pattern Design:
Create patterns for making jackets is not easy.
So we decided to hire a designer to better understand this technique.
It turned out that the designer intended always to do the best according to his knowldege, but differed on what we wanted, because we were trying to copy a piece of wardrobe of a movie, not to develop a modern high quality jacket.
This difference of opinion forced me to learn the craft, assuming the direction of the project, and starting to make our own patterns over and over again.
Development of patterns (several tests):
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First tests were performed (mock-up) in plastic and fabric.
Test and much-much error!!
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When we were almost convinced, we went to a workshop to make the prototype in leather. But as expected, further corrections were needed. So it took four prototypes ane more than two years of working in secret as did not want to spoil the project before we had everything ready and knowing that everything was perfect.
"Nothing! I made no promises! I merely said it looked very favorable.Besides, with the information in our possession, my calculations were correct." (Belloq in RAIDERS, or me, during the whole design process!)
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Meanwhile, we kept looking and trying different leathers, and we also had to search all over the world to find screen-accurate pockets snaps, and buckles.
Finally, the jacket is assembled with parts from 4 different countries.
mock up in fabric
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YEAR 2011
4 prototypes were made in different skins. When we finally got to the final version, and we were ready to present our jacket, our supplier ran out of leather and retired from the activity..
"That's usually when the ground falls out from underneath your feet". (Indy, in Last Crusade, or Harry, during the whole process!)
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By the fall of 2011 we had the opportunity to personally examine a RAIDERS jacket by Nowak.
This helped a lot because it filled some gaps in the patterns that I could not understand.
YEAR 2012
This year we found a new workshop, which also provided an almost exact leather to the one we were looking for. We asked and then were promised they had enough stock of that leather so it wouldn't happen the same than before. We made one jacket using our ultimate patterns, everything went well, and then... the shop tells us that their warehouse was flooded and all the leather was ruined.
Finally, after tracking the leather around the world, we found that someone else had that leather, and was near Argentina.
We had to plan an expedition to Uruguay, cross the border and bring everything we could on that trip.
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After several adventures, we got back to Argentina with the leather.
"Marcus, I did it!" (Indy, in Last Crusade or me, when we crossed the border.)
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Lets show you the jacket: "Cazadora '36" (prototype):
(Cazadora is the word for "jacket" in Spain, and also "Los Cazadores del Arca Perdida" was the name for "Raiders of the Lost Ark")
The first thing to understand is that the purpose of this work was not to make just a jacket you could wear, but to replicate the piece of wardrobe worn by Harrison Ford while making the movie.
This make some characteristics may be different than in a regular jacket, but this was the way it should be to be true to what we wanted. For those who are looking for a regular garment, above fidelity to what's been seen on screen, there have been many other products in the market for years.
The fit of this jacket is rather loose, especially in the chest area. Although slightly tight on the upper back, in the shoulders. It tends to fall back, giving that dynamic look that has Harrison Ford in Raiders, while compared to other movies.(Something similar happens with the Raiders hat, imperfect and asymmetric, lightweight material, vs. the ones seen in the other movies).
Talking about the leather, we considered 3 factors: the thickness, texture and color.
A lightweight leather allows the jacket to move in a particular way, and makes in fall like the one seen in Raiders, forming wrinkles, which it wouldn't happen if it was made out if a heavier material.
The color, as in all the other pieces of costume, varies according to the lighting. So we chose the shade of color that we believe, under different lighting conditions, is the one that better mimics what was seen on screen.
As for the texture, the proposal of this project was to make the leather wrinkles (ribbiness) and texture you see on screen. And that was the harder part, cause the texture had to be a very precise one, which we think we manage to find in the leather we'll be finally using. But as some people prefer smooth skins, ribby-free, the idea is to also offer our jacket in a leather as thin and light as the textured one, but without the ribby marks.
As you may know those leathers are easier to find, such as: Goatskin, Lightweight Cow, Grainy Lamb, and others.
Soon, in Vendor Announcement section, we will expand the information about sizing, leathers, ordering process. More pictures and videos. Everything to be clear about how we will manage this whole project.
We hope you enjoyed the process as we did.
Soon, more photo information. Thanks for reading til the end!
Can't wait to see more. Top notch jobs gents! The dedication is apparent in this post. This is the jacket to get it's starting to sound like.
