BELSTAFF PRESENTS AW18 AT LONDON FASHION WEEK MEN'S
Belstaff presents the dual gender Autumn Winter 18 collection, 'Made In UK', celebrating the brand's British roots, with nearly a hundred year history of innovation and legacy of protection for adventure.
2018 marks the 70th Anniversary of the iconic four-pocket Trialmaster jacket, originally designed to protect against the harsh weather at the Scottish Six Day Trials, providing a poignant moment for Belstaff to celebrate this history during London Fashion Week Men's. Revealing for the first time a curated selection of the Trialmaster Archive, developments in fabrics, manufacturing and design details speak to the decades they were launched, with colours and decorative pins and badges showing the pride of previous generations. Through exploration of the Trialmaster history Delphine Ninous, Creative Director, found her seasonal inspiration looking into English subcultures:
"I started looking at youth movements since the 1950s, referencing the vitality and energy of sub-cultures such as the mods, punks, rockers and skins, who all in very different ways sought to express an inter-generational clash though music and fashion. As I discovered through the Archive many were wearing our iconic jackets and customising them. This season these themes are played out in our iconic silhouettes such as the field jacket, parka, biker and bomber. We wanted to celebrate our heritage but also shine a light on our spirit of innovation whilst remaining modern and looking to our future."
Belstaff originated as a manufacturing company in Stoke on Trent and this season gives the opportunity to celebrate this with a return to production in the UK in a series of outerwear pieces. The 70th Anniversary 'Made In UK' outerwear series launches a new tumbled coated cotton, with reflective stripes and badges.
Through this legacy, Belstaff has been able to introduce the evolution for today through the Origins collection, celebrating the four-pocket silhouette in the most innovative technology and protective fabric. Autumn Winter 18 sees the launch of new heat mapping technology, a first for the brand, engineered to meet the precise requirements of the body in motion with in built thermoregulation.
Belstaff chose to showcase this celebration in London's Soho at The Vinyl Factory. Guests entered through a vintage record shop to see model vignettes among an industrial scaffolding set, with this modern material also being used to suspend the Archive. Guests enjoyed Cîroc cocktails against a backdrop of Belstaff bespoke wrapped bottles. Belstaff's purpose since 1924 has been to provide protective clothing for generations of pioneers, which now includes today's modern day adventurer.
Gavin Haig, Belstaff CEO, comments: "Our archive is a rich story of Belstaff and iconic outerwear, protecting you to venture free, for now and for nearly one hundred years, from the legendary Trialmaster of 1948, through to the innovative Origins collection, launching in 2018. A significant year for the company too, with Belstaff back under British ownership, since the acquisition by INEOS at the end of December 2017, we are proud to have this opportunity to celebrate our British roots."