Oh my leather!

It all started at last year’s CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund awards dinner. Rag & Bone’s David Neville and Marcus Wainwright brought Russian model Maryna Linchuk as their date, and over herbed-laced bocconcini and prosciutto-wrapped asparagus they got to talking shop. “She told us that she loves our clothes and wears a lot of leather jackets and leggings, which look great on her,” Wainwright says. “So I suggested she come to our studio, we could design a leather jacket together, and maybe she’d wear it on the runway in our fall show. It was very spontaneous.”

Days later Linchuk arrived at the Rag & Bone headquarters with sketches and a plan. It’s worth noting that leather is something sentimental to Linchuk; when she was growing up, her parents owned a leather-goods store in Bellarusse. “I love the smell; it just makes my heart go ‘Ahhhhh,’ ” she says. “I have fifteen leather jackets all together––Balenciaga, vintage Belstaff, Gucci. So before going to see David and Marcus I laid them all out just to help me decide what I liked and didn’t like.” Her criteria: “I wanted lots of details, like a slit in the elbow so that the sleeve won’t stretch out when you bend your arm. And I wanted a strong shoulder, to give you attitude.” Wainwright and Neville had their ideas, too: “It had to be made of very thin, matte lambskin. It had to have skinny arms,” Wainwright explains. “But it was great because the bent sleeve and shoulder articulation that Maryna wanted was a lot like armor, which was an idea David and I were working with already.”
Thus, the Maryna––a fitted, three-pocket biker–– was born. And though it didn’t come down the runway last February, it was a huge hit with retailers—300-number sold worldwide. “It’s really the perfect yearround jacket,” says Linchuk, by way of an explanation for the Maryna’s success. That and its price tag $1,325 too. “It’s tight but it isn’t stiff, and the leather is so soft and thin,” she adds. “It’s for fall but you can wear it in the summer. Put it over a dress with flats and you’ll be ready to go.”