Chinese non-leather Jackets: Denim and other heritage Jackets

[itsme]

Hi all,


What’s your experience with non-leather jackets from China, such as denim jackets or heritage-style pieces? What are your favorite brands on AliExpress? This thread is meant to be a reference alongside the Chinese leather jackets thread. Although I don’t own any Chinese leather jackets myself, I still find the topic quite interesting.

While Bronson MFG gets a lot of discussion, it’s surprisingly hard to find information about brands like Red Tornado or Sauce Zhan.

After several years without owning an MA-1 jacket, I did quite a bit of research over the past few days and ended up ordering one from Bronson. While I’m not a big fan of their denim jackets, I really like their M-65. Of course, it doesn’t hold up against my RMC M-65 in terms of detail and craftsmanship, but it’s still a great jacket for walking the dog or traveling.

As for denim jackets, I’ve found Sauce Zhan to be very high quality. Their high-end line, Sauce Origin, has given me one of the best denim jackets I own. If anyone’s interested, I can post a few photos.

Last week, I ordered my first knitwear pieces from Bronson and Sauce Zhan, and I’m curious to see how they compare to my Italian knitwear collection.

What are your favorites? What kind of good or bad experiences have you had?

 

[mc3141]

I also have a denim jacket from Sauce Zhan. The quality is quite solid, great fabric texture. If you buy from Taobao using a proxy, the price is just unbeatable. I also have a pair of 20.5oz Sauce Zhan jeans. The quality is great, they’re somewhat similar to iron heart denim honestly. I’ll soon do a taobao haul with items from the three brands you mentioned.

What big differences do you notice between your Sauce Zhan and RMC jackets? A loose thread here and there I don’t count, personally, because those can be trimmed.

 

[l0fielectronic]

I've bought a couple of denim items and, being at the larger size of these brands sizing I have the impression that the upsizing of their existing sized clothing to the larger sizes is not always very well done, leading to some weird fit issues.

I gave up on it because of this, with the difficulty in returns and the fact I could pick up items on the second hand market which worked out better. But the denim used and the quality of construction was often really good.

 

[jay_cali]

I also have a denim jacket from Sauce Zhan. The quality is quite solid, great fabric texture. If you buy from Taobao using a proxy, the price is just unbeatable. I also have a pair of 20.5oz Sauce Zhan jeans. The quality is great, they’re somewhat similar to iron heart denim honestly. I’ll soon do a taobao haul with items from the three brands you mentioned.

What big differences do you notice between your Sauce Zhan and RMC jackets? A loose thread here and there I don’t count, personally, because those can be trimmed.

Sauce Zhan has Buco j100 in Denim

 

[jay_cali]

I have a Lee 91-B repro from Ray Kwok which I like, cotton-linen blend Japanese denim.

​

 

[itsme]

I also have a denim jacket from Sauce Zhan. The quality is quite solid, great fabric texture. If you buy from Taobao using a proxy, the price is just unbeatable. I also have a pair of 20.5oz Sauce Zhan jeans. The quality is great, they’re somewhat similar to iron heart denim honestly. I’ll soon do a taobao haul with items from the three brands you mentioned.

What big differences do you notice between your Sauce Zhan and RMC jackets? A loose thread here and there I don’t count, personally, because those can be trimmed.

If I have the time, I’d be happy to take a few comparison photos.

The Bronson is so good that I’ve hardly worn the RMC so far and have even been thinking about selling it. It’s a bit heavier and slightly stiffer — just a different material — but that’s not really a downside; if anything, it makes it feel a bit more robust.

The zipper on the RMC seems a little better, but the Bronson has seen a lot of use and works perfectly fine.

In terms of sizing, the Bronson is much closer to the original, whereas the RMC feels a bit slimmer to me. That said, RMC has produced several different versions of the M65, so some variants may of course fit differently.

In my opinion, the downsides are negligible, and in terms of price-to-performance, I would recommend the Bronson.

 

[itsme]

Sauce Zhan has Buco j100 in Denim View attachment 774883

They have so many interesting jackets and I'm totally stunned by their quality - though I personally don't like to have leather jacket styles made out of denim. However, their denim is much better than for example Bronson

 

[Edward]

I have a Lee 91-B repro from Ray Kwok which I like, cotton-linen blend Japanese denim.

View attachment 774884

This is very nice indeed. A few years ago I hummed and hawed over an actual Lee version of this style. It was just a bit more than I wanted to pay for a denim jacket (knowing I'd get limited wear from one). That particular run had a quilted lining, which I'd have been ok with, but I was not as keen on the cord covered collar. This looks much nicer in denim - and would be a useful Summer jacket as unlined.

When it comes to non-leather, I find a lot of the more affordable brands are better than with leather (leather is a trickier proposition to keep the unit cost down, imo).

The only bits of Bronson I personally own for now are accessories - a couple of leather neckerchief rings, a couple of Daisy Mae hats and three A3 caps. I am extremely pleased with all of them. The only flaw on any of the hats was that the USAAF decal on two of the A3 caps (the third has no decal, instead being branded as a PoW cap) reads "Army Air Force" when it should, of course, be Forces, plural. No bother to me, really, for civilian wear, though I gather they have now fixed this. These caps are all such basic items that honestly, I can't begin to see any significant room for improvement for the versions produced by the big names. The other thing with the price (about four times what I paid for mine) is that some things I otherwise just wouldn't try. Daisy Maes were a revelation to me when I bought my two from Bronson. Not a style of hat I thought in a million years I would enjoy, but both my Bronsons (and the two other versions I bought from WPG, hues that Bronson don't do) get a lot of wear in the Summer, whether camping on holiday or out and about casually at home and abroad. Anywhere I'd wear the likes of an A3 cap but want to have a brim protecting more than just my face from the Sun.

I'd be open to trying more of Bronson's clothes. I love their workwear designs, and what I have seen in person is very nice. The reason I have not is that consistently across their range, both jackets and trousers top out at at least one to two sizes below what I could ever hope to actually wear. I keep hearing that they are working on expanding the size range - I hope this is true.

They have so many interesting jackets and I'm totally stunned by their quality - though I personally don't like to have leather jacket styles made out of denim. However, their denim is much better than for example Bronson

It's interesting how the textile / hide / material can really add something to the design by its use - or lose it something by its absence. I've never been much of a fan of leather versions of the MA1, I think because the form just doesn't work in leather to my eye. Sometimes though it can work. I'd love to see more denim versions of half belts and the likes - especially in black. A nice alternative for that part of the year when it just gets too unbearably hot to go out in a leather jacket.

 

[itsme]

This is very nice indeed. A few years ago I hummed and hawed over an actual Lee version of this style. It was just a bit more than I wanted to pay for a denim jacket (knowing I'd get limited wear from one). That particular run had a quilted lining, which I'd have been ok with, but I was not as keen on the cord covered collar. This looks much nicer in denim - and would be a useful Summer jacket as unlined.

When it comes to non-leather, I find a lot of the more affordable brands are better than with leather (leather is a trickier proposition to keep the unit cost down, imo).

The only bits of Bronson I personally own for now are accessories - a couple of leather neckerchief rings, a couple of Daisy Mae hats and three A3 caps. I am extremely pleased with all of them. The only flaw on any of the hats was that the USAAF decal on two of the A3 caps (the third has no decal, instead being branded as a PoW cap) reads "Army Air Force" when it should, of course, be Forces, plural. No bother to me, really, for civilian wear, though I gather they have now fixed this. These caps are all such basic items that honestly, I can't begin to see any significant room for improvement for the versions produced by the big names. The other thing with the price (about four times what I paid for mine) is that some things I otherwise just wouldn't try. Daisy Maes were a revelation to me when I bought my two from Bronson. Not a style of hat I thought in a million years I would enjoy, but both my Bronsons (and the two other versions I bought from WPG, hues that Bronson don't do) get a lot of wear in the Summer, whether camping on holiday or out and about casually at home and abroad. Anywhere I'd wear the likes of an A3 cap but want to have a brim protecting more than just my face from the Sun.

I'd be open to trying more of Bronson's clothes. I love their workwear designs, and what I have seen in person is very nice. The reason I have not is that consistently across their range, both jackets and trousers top out at at least one to two sizes below what I could ever hope to actually wear. I keep hearing that they are working on expanding the size range - I hope this is true.



It's interesting how the textile / hide / material can really add something to the design by its use - or lose it something by its absence. I've never been much of a fan of leather versions of the MA1, I think because the form just doesn't work in leather to my eye. Sometimes though it can work. I'd love to see more denim versions of half belts and the likes - especially in black. A nice alternative for that part of the year when it just gets too unbearably hot to go out in a leather jacket.

This is a really good point, and it definitely works the other way around too. Heritage/workwear denim jackets often look great in leather as well — personally I tend to prefer roughout here, thinking of my Johnson Leathers Type 1 (matte cowhide) or Double Helix Type 3 (roughout horsehide).

On the other hand, I don’t really like classic motorcycle or flight jackets done in denim — at least based on my personal taste. Also, I find zippers on denim jackets kind of off-putting — those should be buttoned, in my opinion.

Lately, my initial take on most pieces is that Red Tornado (for heritage) and Sauce Zhan (for denim) are ahead of Bronson. Bronson offers good quality for the price, but it can vary quite a bit from item to item. That might also be true for Red Tornado, but I don’t have as many pieces from them. Sauce Zhan seems to manufacture in-house, at least their denim — and so far I’ve consistently gotten good to very good quality (especially the Origin line).


In my opinion, Bronson Mfg would really benefit from introducing different tiers/lines and tightening up QC. That said, I think Bronson does a great job quality-wise on pieces like the M65, the M51, and the newer NAF 1168 deck jacket. The upside is that their stuff isn’t so expensive that you feel precious about it — so it naturally gets more wear. For example, I’ve been using my M65 a lot lately for work around the house or on the car. (For colder weather, I’d definitely recommend the down liner from Red Tornado...).

 

[Edward]

This is a really good point, and it definitely works the other way around too. Heritage/workwear denim jackets often look great in leather as well — personally I tend to prefer roughout here, thinking of my Johnson Leathers Type 1 (matte cowhide) or Double Helix Type 3 (roughout horsehide).

On the other hand, I don’t really like classic motorcycle or flight jackets done in denim — at least based on my personal taste. Also, I find zippers on denim jackets kind of off-putting — those should be buttoned, in my opinion.

Lately, my initial take on most pieces is that Red Tornado (for heritage) and Sauce Zhan (for denim) are ahead of Bronson. Bronson offers good quality for the price, but it can vary quite a bit from item to item. That might also be true for Red Tornado, but I don’t have as many pieces from them. Sauce Zhan seems to manufacture in-house, at least their denim — and so far I’ve consistently gotten good to very good quality (especially the Origin line).


In my opinion, Bronson Mfg would really benefit from introducing different tiers/lines and tightening up QC. That said, I think Bronson does a great job quality-wise on pieces like the M65, the M51, and the newer NAF 1168 deck jacket. The upside is that their stuff isn’t so expensive that you feel precious about it — so it naturally gets more wear. For example, I’ve been using my M65 a lot lately for work around the house or on the car. (For colder weather, I’d definitely recommend the down liner from Red Tornado...).

Red Tornado are another one - I have a couple of bandanas from them that are really lovely cotton, excellent quality, with great leather woggles included with them. Alas, that's all I've found from them I can wear due to the sizing issues.

At some point these rands are all gonig to catch on. I did see Bronson posting on Facebook a while back that they are working on bigger sizes, so fingers crossed. I hope the same for Red Tornado; their denim in particular looks great.

 

[LuddGang]

I’ve been trying to just buy UK-manufactured clothes but out of interest just looked up Sauce Zhan. Their denim jackets look fantastic. Do they look as good in real life?

 

[justjogoh]

Wow, just checked them out. They look good. Happy to hear the quality holds up in real life

 

[Jagwar8]

Kind of odd how little stock Bronson seems to have of a lot of their items considering how big the demand is getting, the new moleskin jacket sold out within the first few days (big sizes first of course)

 

[mcnuonuo]

https://www.olderbest.com/en-us

There's this website that's probably a proxy service and it has a few other brands that don't directly sell abroad. I don't have affiliations to this website nor any of the brands.

I've bought shirts and trousers from Annual Ring directly when I was in China and their tweed pants are just amazing quality.