Levi’s Type II Jacket Just Hit Its Final Form — 72 Years in the Making

Schott NYC

As far as I can tell, we can trace one of 2025’s quiet-but-everywhere fashion revivals back to Kendrick Lamar.

At the Grammys in early February, he stepped out in a Maison Margiela take on the Type II denim jacket — and just like that, a long-forgotten silhouette snapped back into focus.

For decades, Levi’s original Type II had been living in the margins. A short-lived 1950s design, overshadowed by the Type III — the trucker jacket everyone knows by heart. But suddenly, for the first time in a very long time, the Type II started competing again.

Levi’s Type II design has never looked better.

Until recently, you’d only find this jacket if you were deep in the weeds: niche Japanese labels, obscure vintage workwear brands, real heads-only territory. This year? It’s everywhere. Affordable denim versions, luxury interpretations, and some genuinely interesting material swaps — waxed canvas, corduroy, the works.

One of the standouts was a black leather Type II from a Schott x Imogene & Willie collaboration. Hard to top. Or so it seemed.

Because Schott just did.

Schott’s Type II has a button cuff.

Their Horween Horsehide Type II Jacket feels like the endgame. Built from horsehide sourced from Chicago’s Horween tannery — some of the toughest leather you can get your hands on — it’s tanned in a deep burgundy that brings out the natural grain of the hide. Not flashy. Not precious. Just quietly brutal in the best way. And it’s only going to get better with age.

Worth noting: this isn’t Horween’s famous Shell Cordovan. Still horsehide, but a different cut of the animal. Cordovan is legendary — practically indestructible — but so stiff it borders on unwearable for jackets. Standard horsehide, which Schott uses here, hits the sweet spot: stronger than cowhide, but flexible enough to actually live in.

Horween’s #8 Horsehide Leather accentuates the rich grain on the hide.

The color comes from Horween’s #8 formula — the same family as their Chromexcel burgundy — but with more variation, more depth, more visible grain. Less polished. More character.

Design-wise, Schott stays faithful to Levi’s original Type II blueprint. Slightly longer in the body, a touch trimmer in the cut, but nothing that messes with the soul of the jacket. The big departures are obvious: leather instead of denim, and a wool plaid lining inside.

Schott’s Type II has a wool plaid lining.

You get the classic details: dual chest pockets with button flaps and rivets, double front pleats, adjustable waist tabs, pointed collar, vented cuffs, tapered back panel. Solid metal donut shank buttons throughout. Plus an interior vented pocket on the left chest because, well, Schott knows what they’re doing.

In a year where it felt like everyone suddenly rediscovered the Type II, Schott saved the mic drop for last. Denim versions have their place — especially the faithful reproductions — but a no-nonsense Type II, cut and sewn in New Jersey, built from one of America’s best leathers? That’s a different conversation.