Iggy Pop and his Leopard jacket, 1972
Only five of these Leopard biker jackets were made by Wonder Workshop in the ’70s, one of which would find its way onto Iggy’s back and the sleeve of The Stooges’ Raw Power, as shot by Mick Rock. That iconic image would later bestow a potent significance on the jacket, ensuring it a spot in rock ‘n’ roll immortality. Though by then, Iggy had already traded it off in a drug deal to Stan Lee of The Dickies, who was so proud to own it that he apparently wore it everywhere, including in a shoot for Rolling Stone. Quite some years later, he would then sell it to one Long Gone John, an eccentric collector of kitsch, label owner (Sympathy For The Record Industry), and a much-celebrated individual in the art and fashion underground. Recognising the jacket’s value, John willingly forked out $2,000 for the jacket and today, is honoured to be caretaker of what he considers to be “The Shroud of Turin of Rock ‘n’ Roll”.
“I used to walk around London, through the park and stuff, with this leopard jacket I had, a cheetah-skin jacket actually – it had a big cheetah on the back – and all the old men in London would drive by in their cars and they’d stop and try to cruise me. All I liked to do was walk around the streets with a heart full of napalm. I always thought ‘Heart Full of Soul’ was a good song so I thought, ‘What’s my heart full of?’ I decided it was basically full of napalm.” – Iggy Pop
In remembrance.
