The History Behind the Backpiece

Back in July, the Museum of Graffiti in Miami debuted a new exhibit called “The Fabric of America” inspired by the George Floyd protests in late May. The exhibit featured 30 denim jackets hand-painted by local artists featuring protest symbols, political slogans, and bright, graffiti-inspired imagery. These jackets draw on the long and fascinating history of the painted jacket in American counterculture. Before we paint our own backpieces, let’s talk a little bit about that history.

American fighter pilots pioneered the style during World War II. At the time, pilots wore A-2 bomber jackets made of cow or horse leather to protect them from the wind during flight. Pilots were given more freedom than rank-and-file infantrymen and would often paint their jackets with cartoons, pin-ups, and political cartoons for good luck and to maintain a sense of individuality during the war. When the leather A-2 bomber was eventually replaced by nylon, soldiers began trading and collecting their more-fashionable leather predecessors. Painted leather bombers thus became a symbol of toughness and individuality in American culture.

After the war, bikers and greasers drew on this tradition and began sewing oversized patches onto their denim and leather backpieces. These jackets were more uniform than their military predecessors; each jacket featured a central mascot, a top rocker indicating gang membership, and a bottom rocker indicating territory. By the 1970s, Harley Davidson began mass producing jackets in this style.

The more traditional hand-painted style returned in the late 1960s with the Vietnam war. As US soldiers returned home from war, they brought their olive green M-65 jackets with them introducing the garment to American streetwear. These jackets were inexpensive, durable, and weather-proof designed for the extreme climate of the south asian jungle. Activists like John Kerry and bands like Creedence Clearwater Revival quickly made the jacket a staple of antiwar protests. To show their creativity and support for the cause, protesters would often cover their jackets in political slogans, anti-war imagery, song lyrics and buttons collected from various events. While the techniques and materials changed, protest jackets, like the ones seen below, remained popular through the AIDS protests of the 1980s and 90s.

In the late 70s and early 80s, punks and graffiti crews returned to leather and denim. The punk and graffiti style jackets were distinct in style, attitude, and function. Punk fashion sought to counter the glamour of rock and disco with visibly worn, patched, and shredded styles. As such, punks treated their “battle jackets” as lifelong art projects slowly adding art, buttons, patches, and studs over time.

While punks treated their jackets like customizable uniforms, graffiti crews rarely wore their jackets outside art shows and gallery viewings fearing arrest. These jackets featured hip hop-inspired lettering and portraits painted with a mix of acrylic and spray paint. This style re-entered the mainstream in the mid 1980s when artists like Madonna began wearing custom painted jackets.

Hopefully, this post has given you some context behind these gorgeous garments. In our next post, we'll go through step by step how to paint your own jacket.