Early this year, an email from a PR agency about Danier landed in my inbox and I was intrigued. What popped to mind was the electric-blue Danier jacket I had in high school in the late ’80s; more specifically, the image of me walking through the long-defunct Eaton’s in the Eaton Centre and having that jacket blasted with Poison, the noxious, sickly sweet Dior fragrance of that era. It gives me a migraine and a toothache just thinking about it today. I donated the jacket straight away, and that fragrance counter incident likely powered my later career in fashion journalism, rebranding a suburban mall-girl as an aspiring urban black-leather wearer.
But Danier Leather was more than just a teenage memory; it was a national stalwart, known for dependable and affordable leather outerwear. In early 2016, the original entity went into bankruptcy, shuttering 84 stores across nine provinces. It re-emerged soon thereafter; husband-and-wife team Bhawna and Diraj Rehan bought the trademark and intellectual property and resurrected the label just months after its liquidation. Named simply Danier, it didn’t initially make a big market splash as it worked to rebuild the pipeline of design, manufacture, stores and marketing.
Ten years later, it is now making a plucky comeback bid. Perhaps it is aided by the synchronicity of younger audiences discovering the OG label on the resale market. Pieces from the 54-year-old leather retailer are hardy and durable staples of vintage shops and can be glimpsed all across TikTok “haul” videos. (Leather, after all, is an investment.)
As of this spring, the Canadian icon is going through an unveiling of sorts, and now has 18 Danier locations alongside the online business. It remains headquartered and designed in Canada and manufactured abroad.
The mantra is “luxury at affordable prices,” says Danier veteran and executive managing director Olga Koel, who has been a bridge between “old” Danier and “new” Danier. The core collections are composed of classic silhouettes — think biker jackets and leather pants in the $400 to $600 range — now paired alongside garments to mix and match.
The head-to-toe look just isn’t modern, says Koel. “No one today wants to wear all leather.”
Oh, but yes, we once did! Danier Leather was created in 1972 as a small, family-run business. It exploded along with our love of malls. If you were walking the corridors at the height of mall culture in the 1980s, then you remember the bold leather matching Danier ensembles of the era — complete with big shoulder pads, batwing sleeves and peplum waistbands in fire-engine red, Prince purple or leprechaun green and, yes, my unfortunate electric blue. It was all very Working Girl, a.k.a. Staten Island executive assistant chic.
The brand went from strength to strength, peaking in the ’90s when leather-jacket icons Winona Ryder and Kate Moss defined rebellion and risqué, Gothy angst in leather for a new generation. Danier also had a cross-generational appeal: simultaneously, it sold bombers to dads across the country and leather pencil skirts to moms. But then fast fashion rose up to swallow those malls and smaller Canadian brands whole in the early 2000s. Oh, and then the online world changed fashion forever.
Fast-forward to today: retail fashion momentum always comes from the streets. What the kids want is what the market has its closest eye on. The Danier of the minimalist ’90s is what is flooding vintage stores. Think clean lines, little ornamentation and good leather in neutral colours. “Danier vintage is always a score, and a lucky find, and it is not rare,” says Kealan Sullivan, the Toronto vintage expert who is founder of the pop-up phenomenon Hippie Market and Sunday Variety Market. “Right now, Danier bomber jackets, lightweight fringed jackets and black minimalist cuts — think Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy trend — are sought after and well-stocked. Soft, high-quality leather and great construction equals desirable, wearable pieces that stand the test of time.”
The new Danier is trading on that street-up reputation. “We have leather jackets, always — bikers and bombers and trenches. Leather skirts, always,” says Koel. In addition to black, which will always be a leather basic, current offerings are in “muted tones and earthy colours: chocolates, tans, gentle cognacs, pale pink, sage green.” “Fashion has changed,” she says, and while looks are still monochromatic, that now means mixing textures, say, leather pants with a sweater or a jacket with a woven skirt.
Biker jackets are the core piece that Sullivan says everyone will eternally be looking for. “It will always have a place on a stylist’s rack,” she says. “It is how we wear it that changes. In the 1970s, it was tailored, and that look works now. In the ’90s it was oversized, and that look works now, too.” In the 2000s, she adds, the look was shrunken, and that isn’t the thing in this trend cycle.
In sync with this, Koel says Danier has five types of biker jackets at any given time, including the Juliette, which was one of the first pieces of the “new” Danier line 10 years ago and which has stayed in the rotation since then. It skims the body and sits on the hip with a belt and subtle slash zip pockets. Says Toronto stylist Talia Brown Thall, “You can feel the past in their pieces. They learned from what sold in the past, and they are bringing that back now, alongside new shapes.”
The difference in today’s pieces is the hand-feel, which is shmatte-industry speak for softness. The new Danier has shifted to mostly drum-dyed lamb leather, which Koel says “is equated to luxury. It feels like a second skin.” Drum dyeing, she explains, is a process in which colours are introduced to skins that are spun in a drum for three days. She likens the effect to wood that is stained rather than painted. The depth, texture and individuality of the skin underneath comes through, she says. “It takes time to process.”
The brand — like most fashion brands these days — is focusing attention on its handbag program, and that is where you will find bolder colours and sharper shapes. Take the Chelsea, which is a shoulder bag with a rounded-rectangular pod shape. Or the Louisa, a wide strapped geometric-weave sculptural piece with a triangular handle. These are not your average mall purses.
Canadian companies have had a tough time in the rapidly changing seas of clothing retail. We still have mall standbys like Reitmans, Bluenotes, Suzy Shier, Dynamite, Northern Reflections and Fairweather. In the active zone, there is Roots and Lululemon. Aritzia is on an international expansion burst. Simons takes the mid-range department store crown after a sad culling of its competitors. And at the high end, there are Harry Rosen and Holt Renfrew.
Perhaps the lesson of Danier’s longevity at thrift and vintage markets is a key takeaway for its future. The label is now skewing towards timeless, classic styles and colours on the expensive base pieces, with pops of forward excitement in its accessories.
Sullivan tells us what lasts in leather: “Patina in black and brown leather adds notes of authenticity and charm, while coloured leathers look tired and faded or discoloured and just do not have that worn-in-for-better appeal.” Good Danier vintage still commands $120 to $150.
After all, if you are spending $500 today on a jacket, you want to make sure it stands the test of time.
