The 1953 film The Wild One, starring Marlon Brando, helped make jeans and a leather jacket symbols of rebellious youth.
Brando plays Johnny Strabler, the leader of a motorcycle gang who arrives in a small California town. His combination of denim, a black leather jacket, boots, and motorcycle styling became one of the most influential visual images of postwar American rebellion.
The film was based on a 1951 story about a motorcycle rally in Hollister, California. Although the movie’s depiction of bikers was stylized, its clothing strongly influenced popular fashion. Jeans had already been used as durable workwear and Western clothing, but films such as The Wild One helped move them into youth and street culture.
The film is often confused with Rebel Without a Cause, the 1955 James Dean movie. Both shaped youth style, but Brando’s earlier film is The Wild One.