is there anyway to distress a leather jacket except by wearing it?

Answer 1

I've used on leather and heavy fabrics alike to give a "worn-in" look is "Leather Balm", which is a microcrystalline wax in an alcohol solution. Applied heavily and rapidly with a rag and rubbed / burnished off with a clean rag quickly, it can give the look of heavy/greasy wear very quickly. The heavier the application and burnishing the more aged and worn (especially over high wear points). I did some "Goliath boots" over with this treatment for a docu-drama that made them come out looking like they had been worn for years, even though they had only left my bench a couple of days earlier.

Answer 2

give it to a dog to play with