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IRVING SCHOTT
1892 - 1991
Irving Schott was born in New York City in 1892. In 1913 Irving Schott founded Schott Bros., Inc. with his brother, Jack. The sons of Russian immigrants, the Schott brothers first "factory" was a basement on East Broadway in Manhattans Lower East Side where they cut raincoats. The Schott's first sales force was a string of street peddlers who sold the raincoats door-to-door.
In 1925, Irving Schott revolutionized the way in which we dress for the outdoors when he put a zipper in a jacket.
In 1928, Irving designed the first leather motorcycle jacket called the 'Perfecto' which he named after his favorite cigar. It retailed for $5.50 and was sold through Beck Distributors, a Harley-Davidson retailer, on Long Island.
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Only the top-of-the-line motorcycle jackets carried the Perfecto name. In 1954, Schott motorcycle jackets were featured in the cult classic, "The Wild Ones," starring Marlon Brando. The increased visibility of the jacket and its subsequent popularity actually resulted in decreased sales. The jackets were banned by many school systems around the country because they symbolized a burgeoning teen demographic, the "hood".
In 1955, James Dean, the quintessential "hood," died in an automobile crash. His tragic death catapulted the motorcycle jacket back in vogue. The Perfecto jacket retailed for $49.
Irving Schott died in December, 1991, just three months shy of his 100th birthday.
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Source: schotteu.blogspot.com