Based in Osaka, Y'2 LEATHER is a Japanese leather brand best known for its wide range of horsehide. The brand has developed more than twenty different types of horsehide alone. Long before Y'2 LEATHER was established, founder Keitaku Yanamoto had already spent decades working in the leather industry, building extensive experience in leather production and manufacturing for other labels. That knowledge eventually led to the founding of Y'2 LEATHER in 1998 and the beginning of a story under its own name.
What Y'2 LEATHER is best known for is its remarkable variety of leather. From persimmon-dyed horsehide to indigo-dyed leather, the way these materials change after years of wear shows exactly why a well-made leather jacket is worth keeping for a long time.
The Y'2 LEATHER store in Osaka displays jackets and leather goods made from a wide range of original horsehide.
Inside Y'2 LEATHER
- More Than Reproduction: A Laboratory for Leather
- Decades of Experience Before the Brand
- Developing Leather with Japanese Tanneries
- The Signature Horsehides of Y'2 LEATHER
- KAKISHIBU HORSE
- INDIGO HORSE
- ECO HORSE
- VINTAGE HORSE
- Patterns and the Osaka Workshop
- A Different Way to Think About Leather Jackets
More Than Reproduction: A Laboratory for Leather
Y'2 LEATHER does not design every jacket around the goal of perfectly reproducing one particular period piece. Instead, it connects tanneries, leather development, and garment production, then uses familiar jacket patterns to explore what each leather can become.
Rather than simply calling it a reproduction brand, it may be more accurate to think of Y'2 LEATHER as a working laboratory that continues to test the possibilities of leather.
From developing leather to making the final garment, Y'2 LEATHER has built its entire process around the character of the material.
Appearance is not the only priority when Y'2 LEATHER begins designing a jacket. The first question is often what a particular hide will become after tanning, dyeing, cutting, sewing, and finally being worn on the body.
Even when the finished jacket clearly refers to a familiar historical style, it still carries the brand's own design language. The result is not simply a perfect copy of an existing vintage garment.
Classic leather jackets provide the starting point, while the proportions and construction are adjusted around the leather and the needs of modern everyday wear.
Decades of Experience Before the Brand
Y'2 LEATHER can create such a wide range of materials because its experience reaches back well before the brand itself. Founder Keitaku Yanamoto had already worked in the leather industry for more than forty years before establishing Y'2 LEATHER, developing a deep understanding of leather production and a strong network within the industry.
That background also allowed the company to work directly with specialized tanneries instead of sourcing its leather through wholesalers.
The workshop holds leather in a wide range of textures, weights, and finishes, giving Y'2 LEATHER the foundation to keep developing new materials.
Developing Leather with Japanese Tanneries
After taking over the business, current president Takao Yanamoto placed even greater emphasis on original leather development and product design. Today, Y'2 LEATHER works directly with more than six Japanese tanneries, each specializing in areas such as horsehide, deerskin, suede, and specific dyeing techniques.
Together, they determine the specifications, coloring methods, texture, and final finish of each material. Once the leather is ready, it is sent to Y'2 LEATHER's own workshop in Osaka, where the jackets are cut and sewn by the brand's craftspeople.
Y'2 LEATHER's Osaka base brings its store and workshop together, keeping leather development, production, and real-world feedback closely connected.
The Signature Horsehides of Y'2 LEATHER
Some of the brand's best-known horsehides include KAKISHIBU HORSE, INDIGO HORSE, ECO HORSE, and VINTAGE HORSE. Each one uses a different combination of tanning, dyeing, and finishing techniques, resulting in its own texture and aging pattern.
KAKISHIBU HORSE
KAKISHIBU HORSE is made with kakishibu, a traditional Japanese dye derived from fermented persimmon tannin. The natural dye reacts easily to sunlight, humidity, and the surrounding environment, allowing its color to deepen continuously over time.
Because the material is so sensitive, the leather must be kept away from light as much as possible during storage and production. Finished jackets are placed inside light-blocking garment bags before being sent to retailers and customers.
Y'2 LEATHER has even noted that during certain periods, not a single usable hide may be found among one hundred pieces. For that reason, only a small number of KAKISHIBU HORSE styles can be produced each year.
KAKISHIBU HORSE begins with a bright persimmon tone, then gradually develops a deeper brown color through sunlight, humidity, and regular wear.
INDIGO HORSE
INDIGO HORSE is an indigo-dyed horsehide developed through years of testing. Indigo dye does not naturally bond well with leather, which creates challenges involving color variation, color transfer, and long-term dye stability.
Y'2 LEATHER spent more than three years refining the process before the material was ready for full garment production. As the jacket is worn, friction gradually creates lighter and darker areas across the surface, producing an indigo fade that feels very different from denim.
INDIGO HORSE develops contrast around the sleeves, pockets, and other high-contact areas, creating a depth and sheen unlike indigo denim.
ECO HORSE
ECO HORSE was created with the character of unrefined 1930s horsehide in mind. The leather is heavily tanned with tannins and oils, then tightened and shrunk by approximately 20 percent to produce a dense structure, a thickness of around 1.8mm, and a remarkably firm hand when new.
With wear, the tightly packed fibers gradually loosen and begin to mold to the body. The initially flat and rigid surface develops deep creases, texture, and shine, making ECO HORSE one of the most recognizable leathers in the Y'2 LEATHER collection.
ECO HORSE starts out thick and rigid. Over time, areas that move with the body develop deep creases and a distinctive natural shine.
VINTAGE HORSE
VINTAGE HORSE is designed to produce a strong tea-core aging effect. The thick horsehide is first dyed brown, then finished with black pigment over the surface.
As the jacket is worn and exposed to friction, the black surface gradually fades away, revealing the brown layer underneath. This creates a high-contrast patina with depth around the seams, edges, and natural creases.
As the black finish wears away, the brown base begins to show through, bringing greater definition to the seams, edges, and creases.
Patterns and the Osaka Workshop
Leather development may sit at the center of Y'2 LEATHER, but the brand puts just as much thought into its patterns and fit. Historical jackets provide the foundation, then the proportions are adjusted for a close but comfortable fit that works in modern everyday life.
Denim jackets from different periods, car coats, motorcycle jackets, and military outerwear can all become starting points for the brand's designs.
Y'2 LEATHER jackets and leather goods are cut, skived, reinforced, and sewn inside the brand's own Osaka workshop.
Inside the workshop, each stage is handled by craftspeople who specialize in their part of the process, from cutting and skiving to reinforcement and final assembly.
Dense materials such as ECO HORSE require extra care. Seam allowances and high-stress areas must be carefully skived and reinforced to balance appearance, movement, and the durability needed for years of wear.
Every natural hide has its own thickness, grain, and marks. Each piece must be inspected before the pattern sections can be carefully positioned and cut.
A Different Way to Think About Leather Jackets
Among Japanese leather brands, Y'2 LEATHER has a way of making familiar jackets feel unexpected. Its leather-first approach gives each piece a distinct identity from the moment it is new.
Rather than thinking, “I have seen this jacket somewhere before,” the reaction is more likely to be, “I never knew a leather jacket could look like this.”
More importantly, that feeling does not end when the jacket is new. After years of wear, as the leather begins to shape itself around the body and its creases, shine, and underlying color come forward, the same jacket can surprise you all over again.