Writing a jacket into existence

I came upon this very interesting anecdote about the jacket one character in Gibson's book Pattern Recognition is wearing. Cayce, the protagonist in the novel, is "allergic" to fashion, brands and logos, so she is wearing a Japanese replica of an US Air Force flight jacket from WWII. Apparently the model she is wearing (a Buzz Rickson's MA-1) was not actually produced in the color black by the company, but as a writer you can make things come into existence:

Some time after the book was published, I recieved a very puzzled letter from the folks at Buzz Rickson's, who had been getting requests for black MA-1's. Once I had explained what was happening, they amazed and delighted me by asking my permission to make a repro of *Cayce's* jacket, to market as their Pattern Recognition model. Yes indeed, I said, and while you're at it, cut me one with an extra four inches in the back, please. Which they did, and it's over the back of a chair nearby as I write this. I love this jacket. (...)

People who complain about the very high cost don't understand the degree of sheer lunatic obsession that goes into these things. You are very unlikely to ever wear another piece of clothing this well-made. I know I never have. (They are actually better than the 1950s USAF originals, which were only finished to military contract standards.) They spent a million dollars, when the company started up, on machinery to reproduce 1950s USAF-spec Crown zippers. Nobody outside of Japan is very interested in paying for that, they told me, smiling. They have found their niche-market, bigtime.

WILLIAM GIBSON BLOG: BUZZ IN BLACK

These are really magnificent jackets. In fact, their whole line of clothes is amazing, and fortunately their is even some stores that sell the brand online.

Buzz Rickson Flight Jackets & Selvage Denim Jeans