Berlin  - Summer, sun and leather jackets? Strange as it sounds, those things go together this season because the new, lightweight leather jackets are both sporty and chic.

The new shapes and soft materials go well with dresses as well as tunics. They must be tailored and while bright colours are permissible, muted tones are in this summer: black, brown, grey and olive, for example. Colour is brought into the outfit by tunics, skirts and dresses. The two together create a feminine, dramatic look.

Whether the leather jacket is meant to be worn on mild summer evenings or on the way to the office, it is present in all the collections.

"It's simply comfortable, and it makes a woman feel chic. A leather jacket is always more casual than a blazer, for example," said Elke Duerer, a fashion designer from Dusseldorf. Labels that ordinarily would have leather jackets in their lines have them, as could be expected.

"This is simply a totally urbane look. You can wear a leather jacket practically anywhere," said Elke Giese of Germany's fashion institute in Berlin. Especially popular this year are lively "visual effects." This should be expressed by the structure of the leather, which the colours hint at. Duerer describes it as a "not entirely clean, more of a dingy look."

"Shiny and glossy leather jackets will be seldom seen this summer," Giese said. "The material can be high-priced Nappa leather, but visually it shouldn't be so meek."

The leather jackets have been climbing up the trend barometer for a long time. Giese saw proof of their popularity on the streets of London and Berlin last autumn while doing a photo project.

"This summer its break into the outfit will play a large role - the leather jacket as a potent, sporty separate combined with a more feminine piece," said Giese.

The leather jacket as a trendy garment is not red or green, even through these colours currently are in style. While colourful summer dresses can be well matched with the leather jackets that are in, a short skirt also goes nicely, said Giese. Biker boots could be an ideal accessory.

Most of the leather jackets in stores this summer are short and tight-fitting, Duerer observed, although there are longer variations worn with a belt. They all have a few things in common: "They have a collar and the trend is clearly going away from the blazer look."

Another big advantage of a leather jacket is that it is that if it gets lightly soiled, the dirt can be easily wiped away. Leather is also usually considered insensitive to weather. Neither sun nor rain can harm it, said Thomas Schroeer of the German leather industry association in Frankfurt.

There are big differences in the prices of leather jackets. Duerer said the cheaper ones sell for 200 to 270 euros (274 to 369 dollars), and there's practically no upper price limit among the designer pieces. A customer can pay between 1,500 and 2,000 euros for one.

Leather jackets by the designer label Dsquared were the most prominent at the fashion shows, said Giese. But the jackets shown by the labels Diesel and GStar were also sought-after. Luxury label Hermes also has leather jackets in its line, as does Windsor. And leather jackets are always among Belstaff's products.

Unlike shoes, leather clothing doesn't have mandatory labelling. The genuine leather label is often seen. When it's on the garment the customer can be sure that she is buying quality, said Schroeer. Imitation leather, on the other hand, can make people sweat. Otherwise, little can go wrong when a consumers chooses leather.

"Every type of woman can wear it," said Duerer. "It just has to be comfortable enough, that the jacket can be left on outside as well as inside."

That shows that leather jackets can be worn in the summer. (dpa)