BUZZ RICKSON’S BRAND
Buzz Rickson's is a brand owned by the Japanese manufacturing company Toyo Enterprises, Ltd. The brand was established in 1993, and the brand name taken from the character played by Steve McQueen in the 1961 movie “The War Lover.” The focus of the brand is stitch-for-stitch reproductions of iconic vintage military clothing and accessories made to the highest degrees of quality, authenticity and precision, including the use of custom-made fabrics produced on costly, slow-moving vintage looms, with the finished goods assembled using vintage sewing machines for ultimate authenticity. It is part of the brand philosophy that ultimate authenticity is only achieved when goods are recreated not just to look the part of the vintage item being copied, but to also function as dependably as the vintage item was intended to function. More recently, Buzz Rickson has developed world-renowned vintage-style civilian work clothing, sport and flying coats, military chino trousers, and items of athletic apparel that include tube-body, loop-wheeled sweatshirts that sell out every season.
Until 2002, Buzz Rickson’s brand was available exclusively in Japan, and mostly known in America by only the most devout and informed flight jacket enthusiasts. Those outside of Japan found it hard to obtain anything from this range of specialty clothing, and it is not uncommon for customers in Japan to wait over a year to obtain certain jacket styles of their choice, such as the tanker jacket, B-15, MA-1 or the must-have USN pre-WWII Pea Coat. This is due to the great demand for this brand of unmatched quality and authenticity, as well for that fact that these goods are produced just once every year and released in the fall; when the Buzz Rickson dealers sell out of a certain jacket style or size they carry, there can rarely be replenishment of dealer stock until the fall of the following year, as little or no reserve stock is kept at Buzz Rickson’s corporate headquarters. Similarly, some jacket styles are special editions that are produced once and not repeated again, thus perpetuating the desirability of the goods and a mystical aura of the unobtainable. It is not uncommon for customers to collect the special editions - they have become collector items in their own right.
We are the sole agent in the North America for Buzz Rickson’s and are responsible for creating certain styles and size ranges that are unique to our own market, as well as being responsible for bringing all those passionate fans of the William Gibson novel “Pattern Recognition” the heretofore non-existent Buzz Rickson’s black MA-1 jacket worn by fictionalized heroine Cayce Pollard.
The jacket styles we elect to stock represent those we believe are in the greatest demand for our market; if you wish to order a Buzz Rickson product that we do not stock, please contact us with the specifics and we will attempt to obtain the goods for you. Please keep in mind that Buzz Rickson headquarters in Japan stocks very little, and very rarely has sizes at their warehouse greater than 42. Special orders of styles and/or sizes not in our inventory are not returnable or refundable unless found to be damaged or faulty. Stock goods may be returned for replacement or refund as long as the return conforms to the terms of our published return policy found on this web site. Your input regarding new styles and sizes you would like to see us carry is encouraged, as this will help us plan what goods to stock in the next year.
