Ever since a leather-jacketed Marlon Brando slouched across the screen in "The Wild One, " the jacket's mixture of animal magnetism, brooding menace, and sexual provocation has made it a must-have for hipsters, rebels, and "fashionistas." This entertaining book chronicles the leather jacket from its roots among World War I flying aces to its present incarnation in high fashion. Along the way, it shows how every generation and subculture -- including the Hell's Angels, beats, punks, movie stars, counterculturists, and fetishists -- has made the leather jacket its own.
