Anyone can wear a leather jacket, but not everyone necessarily pulls it off like an ‘It Girl.’
In the 90s and early noughties, Kate Moss and Sienna Miller were the original style icons of our time, bringing leather jackets into the limelight, but now there’s a new emergent ‘It Girl’ era of upcoming women paving the way for fashion.
From Hailey Bieber, to Lily Collins to Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Kaia Gerber, Emily Ratajakowski and Dua Lipa, the latest It Girls are leaving behind outdated trends and revolutionising what fashion should look like, instead throwing caution to the wind and introducing an eclectic mix of style potentials.
Rather than classic traditional colours, styles and fits the new era are all about intentional difference, be it oversized leather jackets, long tailored leather jackets, coloured leather biker leather jackets or a more androgynous leather jacket outfit.
The upside of this way of dressing is that no rules apply, however the challenging part for anyone wanting to pull off an It Girl look with the same sass they do, will require a combo of confidence and knowing as to how to put together the right look so that it gives off ‘effortless chic.’
With that in mind we’ve curated a list of hot takes for how to style a leather jacket just like an ‘It Girl’ would.
Read below for simple ways to shift from basic to dressing with fun on trend alternatives with a leather jacket.
5 Ways To Wear A Leather Jacket Like An It Girl
1. Dress down a leather blazer
Rather than styling a leather blazer with a pantsuit or tailored dress or pencil skirt the way you may traditionally feel called to, consider intentionally contrasting one with more basic clothes like denim jeans.
Inspired by Kaia Gerber, who wears a leather blazer like no one else, the latest ‘It Girl’ inspired look is more about downplaying a leather blazer rather than placing it over dress wear.
When it comes to how to pull off this look, think about pairing a long line leather blazer in black with a baseball cap, blue denim jeans, white sneaks and a sweater as seen here by Kaia. Alternatively, she has also been spotted wearing a blazer with bike shorts (seen here) or a baker boy cap with a printed tee (seen here).
For our take on a classic black leather blazer try the Apostl Ava Leather Blazer.
2. Add a pop of colour
A black leather jacket will last the test of time but if you want to live more on the daring side and take a few fashion risks, like Lily Collins in Emily in Paris then consider switching out black for a coloured leather jacket.
Not once but twice throughout the seasons she is seen wearing variations on a classic leather jacket, from dark green leather jacket (seen here) to a pastel purple leather jacket (seen here).
Off screen she’s also been papped wearing a dark brown leather jacket here and a red leather jacket here.
In a nutshell, your ‘It Girl’ Lily Collins has made coloured leather a total thing right now, and she’s not shy about how she wears them.
For looks we love, similar to Lily, try a coloured leather jacket outfit that either features a fun neck accessory (like a silk scarf) or high neckline top or buttoning or zipping a coloured leather jacket up so that it appears as the main statement piece.
While we don’t have a pastel leather jacket available, variations that allow you to dress with a coloured leather jacket include our Barnabas Leather Jacket in Olive Green or Nude or the Junia Suede Leather Jacket in Olive Green or Tan.
3. Allow brown to be the new black
We’ve already hyped coloured leather jackets, but if a bright hue is a little too adventurous for you, but you want a similar shade that will suit monotone combos then we love a tan or brown leather jacket.
Emily Ratajowski, one of the all time ‘It Girl’ muses of this generation is arguably seen rocking a brown leather jacket much more frequently than a black.
Look to her wardrobe and you’ll see every shade of brown from a classic biker chocolate leather jacket outfit like this one through to a tan brown leather jacket trench coat tied at the waist (seen here) all the way to a more chic tailored rich brown leather jacket with fine metal hardware (seen here) and a maroon oversized leather jacket (seen here).
There doesn’t seem to be a brown leather jacket shade that Emily doesn’t make enviable. So with this in mind, consider dipping your toes into the brown leather jacket pool and opt for a tan in between shade.
The best part of tan is it goes with any outfit and makes for the perfect trans-seasonal piece, from Autumn to Winter, Spring to Summer.
For a tan leather jacket outfit we love for all seasons try our Apostl Barnabas Leather Jacket in Tan or to be bold and go burgundy like Emily’s latter look try the Apollo Leather Jacket in Burgundy.
4. Go androgynous like Gigi
Gigi may be one of the world’s biggest supermodels but when it comes to off the runway, she tends to put aside wild fashion trends and pair back her style with oversized, baggy, androgynous fashion.
What do we mean by androgynous? Think less about feminine or masculine, it’s more about adopting a gender neutral style.
In a practical sense, when it comes to how to dress with a leather jacket, it’s about being less rigid with traditional shapes, style pairings, leather jacket colours (i.e. pastel for women) or sticking to tailored body contouring designs that cinch in a women’s figure.
Gigi’s style is all about unexpected lines, shapes and clashing clothing choices. Take this look here, where she wears a long button up shirt undone at the belly with a blazer thrown on top and black denim cargo pants or a long oversized black leather jacket with a grandma style knit cardigan buttoned up with tan knee high cowboy boots seen here. 
In more understated looks she also is seen wearing a multi coloured stripe leather jacket, reminiscent of a Formula One race jacket with aviators and a sleek ballerina bun and a simple black on black look, featuring a black leather jacket trench with a pastel beanie, black bootleg denim, an ‘It bag’ and trainers (seen here).
While Gigi’s androgynous style can be a little harder to pull off, as it may feel random, the best part of it is that you really just throw out all the style rules, go big, and choose to go up a size in jackets and in pants and then pair unexpected colours. Easy!
For our take on a androgynous leather jacket outfit try the Apostl Alexander Bomber Jacket with bootleg jeans and cargo jeans with a cropped tee and a bandana or beanie.
5. Add a little athleisure
If there’s one trend that Kendall Jenner has nailed it’s wearing athleisure with leather.
The most effortless kit of all, unlike the others (such as Gigi’s looks) where you really have to consider how to style a leather jacket, this look involves wearing activewear and throwing a fun leather jacket on top.
This trend really just involves wearing a crop top and lycra pants or a hoodie and adding a leather jacket on shoulders or over the top.
For style inspo we love, as seen worn by Kendall, try an oversized varsity hoodie with jeans such as this look here or for a basic look find a simple white cropped top and add black leggings, a high ponytail, aviators and a classic biker black leather jacket as seen here.
To pull off a similar look, we recommend the Apostl Barnabas Leather Jacket in black, a classic sure to see you from the gym to happy hour.
For more style tips on how to dress with a leather jacket, how to style a leather jacket or other female leather jacket outfit ideas see our blog here.