KEY POINTS:
One of the most mythologised moments in rock history incorporated a seriously significant style statement, too.
The incident in question occurred on March 1, 1969, at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami.
Jim Morrison, lead singer of the Doors, unzipped his fly while on stage and
- depending on version of events you believe - whipped out his tackle and pleasured himself in front of a gobsmacked audience, or at the very least, threatened to do so.
Needless to say, the shy and retiring Morrison wasn't wearing a pair of comfort-fit polyester slacks when the impromptu dalliance with his downstairs department occurred, but was instead squeezed into tight and low-slung black leather pants.
The rock star's defiant act (later earning him a conviction for indecent behaviour, and causing the cancellation of the band's imminent tour) can therefore only have further imbued leather trousers with the sort of dangerous, rebellious, whiff-of-sex connotations at which they had long hinted.
Guess what? Various influential men's fashion designers are now pushing leather trousers for the coming season - perhaps hoping to capture some of the aforementioned thrill-packed associations, or simply re-contextualising said garments altogether.
Most notably, black leather trousers cut a swathe through the autumn/winter 2007/8 collections from Alexander McQueen (where they were super-tight), or Raf Simons (who offered leather suits, with plenty of leather gloves for good measure), to Thierry Mugler Homme (where they were cut low on the waist and devoid of distracting belt buckles).
Thomas Engelhart, men's designer at Mugler, confirms, "Leather, and skin, are very important fabrics for the Mugler Man. Skin being his own, of course, and others - well, others coming from the animal kingdom.
"So, among leather jackets, leather vests and leather shirts, there is always something more exaggerated, something more wicked about a leather trouser. They follow the body's shape well. They're very sexy, and tough."
However, from the Calvin Klein Collection, designed by Italo Zucchelli, a considerably more gentle interpretation has emerged - pale grey leather trousers, no less. "I used grey throughout the whole collection because it is very representative of the brand," says Zucchelli.
"Luxurious leather has always been a part of my wardrobe and I wanted to bring it back in a meaningful way. I imagined a monochrome leather T-shirt and pants to look like a new uniform - the result is sleek and modern in grey."
This all marks the return of a contentious trouser style which last enjoyed a high fashion revival in the early-90s.
At that time, the most trend-setting of urban young men shook off the baggy clown-like attire associated with the late-80s Acid House boom, finding a leaner, meaner antidote in black leather trousers, biker boots and waistcoats.
These kinds of styles were being purveyed at the time by designers including John Richmond and Jean Paul Gaultier.
Leather pants became a key look for men at then-achingly hip London clubs such as Love Ranch - where Kylie Minogue and her leather pants-sporting beau, the late Michael Hutchence, could be seen - before filtering down to the hoi polloi.
While leather trousers have since remained ubiquitous within certain, ahem, specialist areas of the gay club scene, they had fallen thoroughly out of favour in a full-on fashion context - until now.
But some women tend to cruelly hoot with derision at the prospect of men-who-should-know-better squeezed into leather trousers.
"It just looks scary!" says 33-year-old graphic designer Meredith Davies.
"Although the intention is obviously meant to be, 'Wa-hey, look at me! I'm a sex god!', it can be a real turn-off.
"There is definitely a cut-off point age-wise with leather trousers, when it begins to seem a bit sad really."
It is, of course, highly unlikely that the aforementioned designers are aiming their latest leathery efforts at any such mid-life crisis-avoiders.
Instead, for a younger, internet-savvy, pop culture-literate generation, a pair of leather trousers could suddenly seem edgy and stylish again.
Daryoush Haj-Najafi, a contributing editor to men's style magazine Hercules, agrees: "I realised leather trousers were back a few weeks ago, when I saw artist Matthew Stone - a barometer of cool - wearing them with a matching leather shirt, at [a] nightclub."
However, he warns, "Leather trousers are for iconoclasts only - those who wear them to increase their own sex appeal will just look silly. You can't think dangerous is something you purchase - it has to be the state of your mind."
Indeed, it was not only malevolent Morrison who helped bestow leather trousers with a menacing kind of chic and aura.
Back in the early 1960s, for example, American rock'n'roll star Gene Vincent shocked parents and simultaneously thrilled teenage fans, by adopting an image of head-to-toe leathers and chains.
It brought to mind the attire worn by the cast of controversial 1953 biker gang film The Wild One (starring Marlon Brando). A subsequent 1964 British film, The Leather Boys gained such cult appeal that snippets from it would pop up two decades later in The Smiths' video for Girlfriend in a Coma.
In the 70s, the trend-setting likes of Iggy Pop and Johnny Rotten made leather pants look cooler than ever.
When you factor in myriad other iconic leather rebel rousers throughout the past 40 years - Lou Reed, Mel Gibson (in the film Mad Max), the Jesus and Mary Chain and Billy Idol, it is not hard to see why these particular trousers are routinely revived on the men's catwalks.
So how can anyone now considering dipping their toes into a pair of leather breeks make sure they put a successful, modern spin on the look?
Thomas Engelhart comes to the rescue with some sound advice: "If you're going to wear leather trousers, remember that this is really a question of personal style - it says a lot about the man you are. They're strong enough to make a T-shirt look crazy-sexy, yet mixed with even a tuxedo jacket can ring true, if done with the proper sense of style and humour. But don't wear them just because it's this season's thing wear them because you love them."
- INDEPENDENT
