Black Brand is a fairly new motorcycle apparel company offering cruiser-styled motorcycle gear including jackets, chaps, gloves, and helmets for men and women riders. Black Brand offers riders classically styled jackets like the Eternity reviewed below, as well as a super stylish edgy line of jackets in its Platinum Series, offered for a limited time, shown directly below.
Black Brands collection includes several very high-end stylish leather jackets like the Brazilian Waxed one shown here. This and three others are part of the Platinum Series, jackets available for a limited time only. The Sheared Beaver is also part of Black Brands Platinum Series, the companys higher end line of jackets.
I am reviewing the more classically styled and moderately priced Eternity jacket here. At $300, the Eternity is not the most expensive nor the least expensive women’s jacket the company offers, but for this price the attention to detail, features, and quality of the jacket are impressive.
Dyed a deep brown—almost black—all the seam edges on the Black Brand Eternity jacket have a distressed look. The sporty tan stripes on the arms and vintage look of the jacket match the heritage style of the BMW R nineT I am testing for Women Riders Now.The Eternity is made from 100-percent top grain goat leather, which is not as thick as cowhide, but is softer, more flexible, and less expensive. The benefit of using goat skin to make up the Eternity is that the jacket looks and feels pre-worn (not stiff) and this type of leather looks better and better as it wears. It flexes easily giving the jacket a good fit while being comfortably lightweight.I ordered my usual size, large, which fit snugly with the liner in and a thick shirt on, but was perfect for riding with just a tee shirt. The sleeve length is long enough to stay in place while reaching for the handlebar, but the jacket could use a little extra length of material in back for lower back coverage.For chilly days, the Eternity comes with a full-length insulated quilted liner with pink stitching. The pink thread and the big-logoed label stitched into the liner makes it easy to find in a sea of black liners in my moto-closet.
The liner attaches easily to the jacket with a full-length zipper. A soft mesh lining is underneath.
The bottom and cuffs of the liner are held in place with loops and snaps.
A leather hook tab in the collar to hang the jacket is sturdier than most, constructed with rivets.
The Eternity has four zippered vents, two on the arms and two in back. Opening the arm vents that are located on the biceps allows air to enter and cool the armpit area, just where you need it. The air then travels through the jacket to exit through the back vents.
Here you can see how the two vertical back vents stay open and are smartly positioned near the jacket sides to maximize air flow.
The back vents work well but are impossible to reach with the jacket on. You need to take the jacket off or ask a friend to zip them.
There are no vents on the front chest, but do those ever actually do anything anyway? The four vents are surprisingly effective in hot weather.
Cuffs have a lengthy YKK zippered gusset, which helps get a good fit over gloves. Riding with them unzipped allows even more air to flow up the arms on hot days. YKK is a brand of sturdy zippers.
The Black Brand logo is embroidered subtly on the left cuff.
Gloves with longer gussets can fit over the cuff of the Eternity jacket.
Two exterior hand warmer pockets and one single interior pocket on the left chest panel make up the Eternity’s storage areas. All three are secured with YKK zippers and are generously proportioned. The interior pocket is vertically zipped and easily accessible whether or not Im wearing the insulated liner.
The Eternity is available in women’s sizes XXS to 2XL. There aren’t any snaps or tabs for adjusting the fit, but two zipped gussets in the hip area helps prevent the jacket from bunching up in the front while seated on the motorcycle.
This little snapped tab covers the bottom of the zipper preventing scratches to your bike’s tank. A thoughtful feature!
Unlike other mandarin collar style motorcycle jackets, the Eternitys collar does not come with a snap or Velcro closure thats adjustable, so on chilly days, I use a neck warmer to keep air from entering the jacket here.
The Eternity jacket is limited on its safety features, lacking armor or even pockets to add it later. But it does have a nighttime safety feature thats almost invisible—a black reflective strip that is sewn horizontally along the back. Its something you dont notice during the day (top) but shows up brightly during low light when a light is reflected on it (bottom).A label sewn into both the jacket and the insulated liner will make you proud to own a Black Brand product. It states that Black Brand makes a donation to Homes for Our Troops with the sale of each of its jackets, vests, and chaps. This organization builds mortgage-free housing that has been adapted for severely injured post-9/11 veterans.
Black Brand stands by its products, offering a generous six-year warranty against manufacturer defects. Again the price for this understated but solid leather motorcycle jacket is $300. Visit BlackBrandMC.comto browse the collection and to order.
