Two weeks ago Nick Schonberger and I trekked to Elizabeth, New Jersey, to tour the Schott headquarters and try on some coats. Now at this point in the year it would be easy to ignore outerwear until back-to-school, but trust the pros: you want cold weather. These coats are dope.

We all know the Schott legend – the Brando photos, the rebels without cause, the World Wars and motorcycles. You understand that when you put on a Schott Perfecto, you are putting on an entire chapter of American history. But before you ride off into the sunset, rebel, remember that you’re wearing, essentially, thirty to forty pieces of hand-cut leather stitched together by those same hands in a factory filled with dust and down feathers and classic rock on the radio.

And at the risk of waxing too poetic, the legend still lives – not just in your DVD player (filled with those black and white Brando films) or in the LIFE archives – but right here. Schott is currently experiencing a resurgence of popularity, and they’re riding the wave with a savvy that betrays all their decades-old sewing machines. We saw a Perfecto on the cover of Esquire, and we saw one again in the Times’ Sunday Style section. Schott’s saga is not firmly entrenched in the twentieth century, as you might have thought before. There’s a lot of innovation in those time-honored designs.

Back to our tour. Led by Jason Schott, great-grandson of company founder Irving, we saw it all – from the first patterns being traced and cut to the last star fastened to a lucky epaulet. From its earliest incarnations the Schott jacket is constructed inside out, and at every station another pair of hands inspect the fabric for imperfections or the seams for an errant stitch. We met the men and women who tend to each jacket until it is flawless, some of whom who have worked in this factory for decades. We saw firsthand the intimate culture built around the brand; it truly is a family institution, and the staff take their roles seriously. Does each jacket change the world? Probably not, but it will certainly continue an important tradition.

Serious leather jackets (and steadfast wool peacoats) are not without a little humor. One highlight of our trip (for me, at least) was stepping inside an enormous cage built around the down feather stuffing machine invented by the Schott men themselves. We ran around the warehouse trying on Technicolor parkas. (Well, he did; I put on the Perfecto and never took it off.) Best of all: we got a sneak peak of next year’s prototypes – but I’ll keep those close to the (leather) vest.

To get the full Schott experience, visit their website, Facebook page, and Twitter.

Photographs by Nick Schonberger