Leather Blazer

In Brian De Palma’s Mission: Impossible, Ethan Hunt wears the Hepworths leather blazer during the film’s middle act as the story moves from Prague into the London passages, after the failed opening operation leaves him isolated from the IMF and working outside official channels. It appears as part of his off-duty fugitive wardrobe in safe houses, cafés, and other transitional interiors while he strategizes, recruits allies, and keeps moving under suspicion. Rather than reading as formal tailoring, it functions on screen as a hard-used leather sport coat that bridges espionage tradecraft and 1990s civilian dress.

Worn by Tom Cruise, the blazer helps define a younger, less ceremonious version of the screen spy than the series would later develop. Its relaxed two-button cut, notch lapels, and soft leather surface place Hunt between professional control and improvised survival, suiting a character forced to rely on mobility, anonymity, and adaptability. The garment reads neither as military kit nor executive suiting, but as practical personal clothing chosen by a man operating on the run.

On screen, the jacket registers through texture and silhouette more than flashy detailing. It is often paired with simple knitwear or a T-shirt, photographed in medium shots and shadowy interiors where the soft creasing of the black leather catches the light. The result is a dark, understated layer that keeps Hunt visually sharp while preserving the worn, unsettled mood of the film’s central London sequences.

The object

Hepworths was a British menswear retailer and tailoring business founded in Leeds in 1864 by Joseph Hepworth, becoming a major high-street name through its large network of shops and its role in popularizing ready-to-wear tailoring in Britain. The Hepworths name remained prominent in British menswear until its retail transformation into Next in the 1980s, disappearing from the high street by the end of 1985.

In costume research on Mission: Impossible, tailor Timothy Everest identified Ethan Hunt’s leather blazer as a Hepworths piece, linking the garment to a major ready-to-wear chain rather than a bespoke film-made item. The screen-used blazer is cut like a tailored sport coat rather than a motorcycle or flight jacket, with notch lapels, a two-button single-breasted front, a welted breast pocket, straight flapped hip pockets, plain cuffs, and a single rear vent.

The leather appears smooth-grained with a soft drape and semi-matte finish, consistent with lightweight garment leather, likely lambskin, and shows visible creasing that suggests a supple, broken-in handle rather than a rigid outer shell. The on-screen version appears in black and is worn open throughout Ethan Hunt’s casual looks, preserving the line of a blazer while adding the texture and attitude of leather. Because Hepworths ceased trading under that name decades ago, the original commercial garment is no longer sold new and is only realistically obtainable secondhand or through vintage resale channels.