Simmons Bilt Clothing Company

Introducing The Simmons Bilt Clothing Company, a brand born out of the solid foundations laid down by the Alexander Leather brand, giving rise to a new chapter in our quest to create the highest quality outerwear garments available.

The Alexander Leather Company first began in late 2012. In the short time since its foundation our time served specialist team together with our uncompromising passion for high quality vintage inspired outerwear, integrity and support from our friends and collaborative associates, we have come a very long way.

We always intended the Alexander brand to remain true to authenticity but also to be progressive and reactive to modern day customer feedback. From this point on we embark on a new and exciting quest to build on the success we have achieved as Alexander Leathers but now with our new brand identity that fully encompasses our future aspirations.

Never resting on our laurels we employ a continuous research and development program to strengthen our brand, searching the archives for new and exciting ideas and construction techniques used by master craftsmen of the bygone era.

Our re-creation of the 1930’s Simmons Bilt style has been a particular success story and has become one of our signature styles, leading us to investigate further as to the origins of the Simmons Bilt brand.

After many months of research and utilizing every resource we found very little history about them although we do know they were a small manufacturer based in Oakland, California. Simmons Bilt started manufacturing in the early 1900’s and ceased trading in the late 1930’s, they were regarded as one of the early pioneers in the production of leather jackets. They were also an early adopter of the new “zips closure” and used the ball & chain puller as their preference. Simmons Bilt created some great leather jackets that today are very rare to find. Through extensive research we managed to find enough information in the archives to enable us to form a template to emulate the craftsmanship employed back in the day at Simmons Bilt.

Our newly branded Simmons Bilt Clothing Company combines the spirit of heritage and authenticity using traditional craftsmanship, a tip of the hat to the artisans of old. Our purpose is to recreate classic vintage inspired outerwear garments with everyday functionality and fit for the more discerning customer. We only use only the highest quality materials available to us, traditional craftsmanship with a focus on exceptional attention to detail, the result being a garment built for life that will develop character the more it is worn.

We appreciate that as The Simmons Bilt Clothing Company we have reinvigorated a name of pedigree and distinction, not to be taken lightly and our focus will be to pay homage to this early pioneering manufacturer through our quality and integrity.

This transformation has been in the planning for a considerable time, although we have always continually reviewed and modified our patterns, based on materials used and customer feedback, we also introduced some time ago into our team, time served pattern technicians, experts in their field, to work alongside our specialists ensuring the classic vintage style is in no way compromised by an up to date comfortable fit. This together with sourcing new materials and hardware that is both befitting of such a prestigious name but also hardwearing so the garments we build today are still around for decades to come.

There are many manufacturers who produce garments to the exact specifications employed back in 30’s & 40’s, and there are some great examples out there to be admired. However, it is our belief that as individuals we have evolved and we are no longer built and shaped like wearers were back in the 1930’s. Therefore our modern fit is very much designed for the wearer in the 21st century but with respect and appreciation to the historic and traditional craftsmanship techniques with which the originals were constructed, should you be of a 1930’s build then we can accommodate that too.