Leather in summer? How to wear it all year round

I’m tired of linen. Do I have to wait for winter to wear leather?
J. Zhang, Croydon, NSW

Julianne Moore in coloured leather at Bottega Veneta’s spring/summer 2023 show in Milan.Credit: Launchmetrics Spotlight

Red leather, yellow leather is more than a tongue-twister: it’s a style mantra this season. Leather has lightened up, moving away from sun-soaking biker-black to deep reds, buttery yellows and calm blues. Meanwhile, its warm-weather weighting no longer sends internal-organ temperatures skyrocketing, challenging the efficacy of a 48-hour antiperspirant.

Those with long memories (or a streaming addiction) may be scarred by that episode of Friends in which Ross (played by David Schwimmer) is on a date and can’t pull back up his pair of snug black leather pants after a cooling trip to the bathroom. Ignore this (along with any ideas about reviving the Rachel haircut) and enjoy the freedom in today’s looser leather pants, billowing shorts and generous skirts.

Coloured leather pieces counteract leather’s bad-boy and -girl reputation that came to us courtesy of Marlon Brando, The Terminator, Suzi Quatro and Maleficent. Catherine, Princess of Wales, has even given leather the royal seal of approval in her choice of a dark-green vest on country outings decades after her mother-in-law, Princess Diana, braved red leather pants on a trip to the theatre to see The Phantom of the Opera.

Leather pieces do require maintenance, though, with the occasional application of a balm, buff or conditioning cream necessary. Minor stains can be tackled with a slightly damp, colourfast cloth, but anything on par with a dripping burrito (not to mention a Ross Geller-like disaster involving talc and lotion) may require specialist assistance. Store your leather carefully and air it regularly to deter mould.

This might seem like a barrage of cons, but the most important pro quickly puts things in perspective: no ironing required – ever.

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