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The best suede jackets for men are a little different than whatever else is in your closet. For one thing, they’re a lot softer. Thanks to suede’s unique napped texture—a result of flipping the hide inside-out—they have the potential to achieve nigh-impossible levels of buttery softness. This fuzzy halo lends suede a more sophisticated look than conventional leather, but it’s also far more susceptible to damage, especially from water. This combination makes owning a beautiful suede jacket a bit like owning a silk shirt: take good care of it and it’ll look spectacular for years to come; neglect it and it’ll start looking shabby in a hurry.
Fortunately, caring for suede isn’t all that complicated. If you opt for roughout suede, the toughest and heaviest form of cowhide suede, you can treat it much the same as you would a denim jacket, letting the fabric take on its own patina as it molds to your body over time. If, however, you’re going for something more refined (like, say, goatskin or calfskin suede) you’re going to want to give it a regular once-over with a suede brush and an annual all-over spritz with a good-quality protective spray. (But more on that below.) With that taken care of, you’ll be free to enjoy the distinctively luxurious-yet-easygoing vibe that only a great suede jacket can impart. Here are 13 excellent ways to do it.
The Best Men’s Suede Jackets, According to GQ
Take Me To: More Suede Jackets We Love | What to Look for in a Great Suede Jacket | How to Care for Suede | The Different Types of Suede | How We Review Products | How We Make These Picks
Best Suede Jacket Overall: J.Crew Wallace & Barnes Italian Suede Work Jacket
Back at the height of the #menswear era in 2011, J.Crew creative director Frank Muytjens introduced Wallace & Barnes as a boutique sub-brand dedicated to his favorite vintage-inspired workwear pieces. “We have this romantic idea of that men’s general store in the Dust Bowl in the ’20s or ’30s where everything is boarded up but still intact,” he told GQ at the time. “The sun has been beating through the windows and fading everything gently over time—that’s always driving this collection. We sort of got carried away in the best possible way.” More than a decade later, under the expert guidance of Brendon Babenzien, Wallace & Barnes has dialed down the nostalgia slightly, but it’s still a prime destination for unique, vintage-inspired gems like this suede barn coat.
Best Budget(ish) Suede Jacket: Banana Republic Suede Garage Jacket
Much like bargain-priced buffets and budget vacation resorts, too-cheap suede jackets are usually best avoided. Suede is inherently more labor-intensive to produce than many other kinds of leather, so if the price is too good to be true, there’s a good chance some quality has been sacrificed along the way. While this workwear-inspired chocolatey number isn’t the cheapest suede jacket out there, it’s probably the cheapest non-vintage, non-vegan option worth your consideration. To get here, the folks at Banana Republic have focused on the most important element, namely the leather, and scaled back other less essential features like the lining and extra zippered pockets.
Best Suede-Like Jacket: Abercrombie & Fitch Cropped Vegan Suede Jacket
If you don’t have the budget for the real McCoy (or you’re a very committed vegan) there’s no shame in opting for faux suede—especially when it looks as good as this. First, there’s the toasted taupe fabric, which is decidedly moodier than your standard tan suede and the perfect shade to complement a white tee. Secondly, the fit is ever so slightly cropped, which makes it work all the better with a pair of high-waisted trousers. Equally noteworthy is the button-up front, which gives it a slight workwear vibe that’ll contrast nicely with tailored pieces. Taken together, (and to say nothing of the price) it’s a compelling reason to go vegan.
Best Suede Chore Coat: Buck Mason Rambler Suede Sportsman Jacket
Whether it’s a heavyweight tee or a suit, Buck Mason is a reliable source of exemplary quality and impressive attention to detail. That’s certainly true of this hardy piece of outerwear, which updates the silhouette of a 1941 USMC utility jacket with sartorial details like tortoiseshell-style buttons and corduroy-lined cuffs. Cut from steerhide suede—the toughest member of the suede family—with a trio of useful patch pockets, its balance of ruggedness and refinement makes it a top contender for your coat closet.
Best Suede Jacket for Menswear Nerds: Valstar Valstarino Suede Jacket
How many pieces in your wardrobe could be described as “museum-worthy”? If you add a Valstarino to the lineup then you’ll have at least one. The Valstarino was created in 1935 as a civilian version of the leather A1 flight jackets worn by American Air Force pilots, and it has since become an important part of the Italian menswear canon, including being featured alongside other Italian icons like the Arco lamp and the Fiat 500 in a Milanese design retrospective. Despite such distinguished company, the Valstarino more than holds its own with its buttery cognac goatskin suede and unmistakable ribbed collar.
Best Suede Jacket for Fashion Guys: Bode Duo Suede Appalachian Jacket
This gloriously over-the-top Western jacket contains the signature blend of 20th-century nostalgia and 21st-century irony that has made Emily Adams Bode Aujla one of menswear’s most celebrated designers. Inspired by kids’ cowboy outfits from the 1960s, its hand-cut fringe and stylized pointed yoke make it look a fashion-ified version of something Eli Cash would have worn to a book signing. If you’re not into the whole cowboy cosplay look, trade the Western shirt and Wranglers for a crisp white button-down and wide black trousers, and you’ll be ready to ride.
More Suede Jackets We Love
Todd Snyder Italian Suede Snap Dylan Jacket
Saman Amel Suede Jacket
Baracuta G9 Suede Harrington Jacket
RRL Alston Roughout Suede Jacket
Freenote Cloth CD-3 Gold Suede Jacket
Prada Suede Blouson Jacket
Schott Rough Out Suede Jacket
How We Test and Review Products
Style is subjective, we know—that’s the fun of it. But we’re serious about helping our audience get dressed. Whether it’s the best white sneakers, the flyest affordable suits, or the need-to-know menswear drops of the week, GQ Recommends’ perspective is built on years of hands-on experience, an insider awareness of what’s in and what’s next, and a mission to find the best version of everything out there, at every price point.
Our staffers aren’t able to try on every single piece of clothing you read about on GQ.com (fashion moves fast these days), but we have an intimate knowledge of each brand’s strengths and know the hallmarks of quality clothing—from materials and sourcing, to craftsmanship, to sustainability efforts that aren’t just greenwashing. GQ Recommends heavily emphasizes our own editorial experience with those brands, how they make their clothes, and how those clothes have been reviewed by customers. Bottom line: GQ wouldn’t tell you to wear it if we wouldn’t.
We make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.
To kick off the process, we enlist the GQ Recommends braintrust to vote on our contenders. Some of the folks involved have worked in retail, slinging clothes to the masses; others have toiled for small-batch menswear labels; all spend way too much time thinking about what hangs in their closets.
We lean on that collective experience to guide our search, culling a mix of household names, indie favorites, and the artisanal imprints on the bleeding-edge of the genre. Then we narrow down the assortment to the picks that scored the highest across quality, fit, and price.
Across the majority of our buying guides, our team boasts firsthand experience with the bulk of our selects, but a handful are totally new to us. So after several months of intense debate, we tally the votes, collate the anecdotal evidence, and emerge with a list of what we believe to be the absolute best of the category right now, from the tried-and-true stalwarts to the modern disruptors, the affordable beaters to the wildly expensive (but wildly worth-it) designer riffs.
Whatever your preferences, whatever your style, there’s bound to be a superlative version on this list for you. (Read more about GQ’s testing process here.)
What to Look for in a Great Suede Jacket
Most suede jackets are lined to make them easier to don and doff, and you’ll want make sure their hardware—the fastening and rivets—are rock-solid, too. Metal buttons and rivets are typically more durable than sewn-in buttons, but a really well-made jacket will boast sewn-in buttons with extra reinforcing on the inside.
While the ones favored by A-listers tend to trend expensive—Tom Ford’s version goes for upwards of $7,000—there happen to be plenty of affordable and supremely hot suede jacket options out there for the taking. We’re talking velvety trucker jackets and buttery bombers, all ready to instantly transform you into your best and most paparazzi-worthy self. Pro tip? Grab one in a classic style that’s cropped right at the waist. It’ll lengthen your legs, accentuate the butt, and sync up oh-so-well with some of-the-moment high-waisted pants or a pair of classic Levi’s 501s.
Leather might seem tough, but suede is a slightly more precious beast. Because smooth leather has a tighter grain and smaller pores, it’s much less porous and therefore somewhat resistant to moisture. Suede, on the other hand, is leather that’s been scraped away to reveal its very porous structure. If you’re not careful, that could mean water spots, not to mention a dried-out jacket (counterintuitive, we know).
Before you take your brand-new suede jacket out for a spin, you’ll want to spray it with suede protector. That’s rain or shine, FYI—the weather might be clear as a pair of reading glasses, but you’ll never see that A/C precipitation coming.
A suede brush will also help keep your jacket clean between wears by shooing away dirt and debris, and restore that gorgeous nappy texture.
Four Types of Suede You Should Know
Think of leather as a natural skin with several layers beneath it. The outermost layers are known as full-grain leather. Scrape beneath the surface and you’ll get to the next layer, top-grain leather. With even more buffing, you’ll reach the corium layer, a network of fleshy fibers that we recognize as suede.
Nubuck: Nubuck is similar to suede in that it’s made by buffing leather to its fleshy inner layers. Nubuck, though, tends to have a shorter nap than capital-S Suede. If suede is a beard, nubuck is a five-o-clock shadow.
Roughout: Unlike other suedes made by buffing the smooth side of a leather hide until reaching the corium layer, roughout is the fleshy underside of the leather. Roughout is also known as ‘flesh out’ or full-grain suede.
Shearling: Shearling is typically made from sheepskin and features a suede underside and a natural fleece layer on the outside. The result is a truly warm, truly over-the-top material reserved for the most baller of winter fits.
Faux suede: Most faux suedes are engineered using synthetic materials, often polyurethane and polyester, but natural materials like mycelium are a growing source of interest in the alternative leather space, too.
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