Highwayman

Unsure of the relationship between Rivett's and Highwayman as Rivett's had their own Champion brand too. In 1973 Highwayman was the trademark of E. Radley & Sons, 48 Copperfield Road, London E3 4RR and supplied the one piece suit featured below to Rivett's in Leytonstone, London E11. Their internal label reads "Highwayman" made in England for "Rivett's Champion".

This 'Ricarde Deluxe' jacket has padded shoulders and elbows consisting of a second layer of leather sewn over a plain jacket with a layer of foam in between. Very similar to TT Leathers design but the edge of the padding is left raw, whereas TT turn their edges under and sew them down. The leather is smooth and shiny.

The matching jeans for this style of jacket have padded knees, split into two halves at the knee and cross the full width of the front leg and like the jacket have raw edges. This contrasts with other padded knee style jeans bearing only the Rivett's label which have shaped knees.

The jeans have open pockets on the front and zipped pockets at the rear.

Trousers where available in a plain style, with one piece of leather for the front and rear of each leg, without a seam at the knee. These feature zipped rear pockets and open front pockets. These are more suitable for casual as well as motorcycle use.

These one piece leather were made to measure in 1973, somewhat earlier than I would have attributed to this padded style. Paul Mathias kindly sent a photo of the leathers and also the accompanying order form, showing the amount of detail that went into tailoring the suit to fit the rider. The paperwork sheds light on the Highwayman brand which has previously puzzled me.