LONDON — British fashion label Belstaff is looking to reach new audiences with a series of collaborations, beginning with fellow Manchester-originated men’s label Represent.
The collection — blending Belstaff’s motorcycle heritage and pursuit of durability with Represent’s print and cut-and-sew expertise — features two jackets, one knitwear, three hoodies, three T-shirts, two trousers, two bags and two hats.
The items are priced within the affordable luxury range. A leather jacket from the capsule is for sale for 1,495 pounds, or $1,928, while the logo hoodie costs 195 pounds, or $250.
It will be available online, at both brands’ stores, and at 25 wholesale partners worldwide from Wednesday.
On launch day, a party will take place in Manchester, where both brands have a retail presence. The first 50 customers to buy the Represent Collaboration via Belstaff will be invited to the party.
Earlier this month, Represent, founded by George and Mike Heaton in 2011, opened its first U.K. flagship on the luxury-filled New Cathedral Street in Manchester, taking over a spot that was previously occupied by Burberry.
Belstaff operates 11 permanent stores and plans to expand through pop-ups, with a focus on the U.K., Germany and potential growth in Asia and North America, said chief operating officer Kerry Byrne.
She said the collaboration aims to attract a younger demographic while maintaining loyalty from Belstaff’s existing customer base as the brand marches beyond its centenary celebration this year.
”We were conceived by our founders [Harry Grosberg and his father-in-law Eli Belovitch] in Manchester. We’ve always had fantastic traction in the north of the country, and then all of a sudden this new brand starts coming up, and has the same kind of following,” Byrne said.
Looks from the Belstaff x Represent collaboration.
Courtesy of Represent
Flannels, an influential luxury retailer outside of London across the U.K. that is owned by Mike Ashley’s Fraser Group and one of Belstaff’s biggest wholesale partners, was among the first to discover the two brands’ overlapping demographic. It connected the companies in 2022 and conversations around a potential collaboration soon flourished.
“The Heaton brothers were interested in the motorcycle heritage. They were very complimentary of the quality of our outerwear. They acknowledged that it was an area that they didn’t have expertise in, and they were very honest about trying to get a place in the outerwear market,” Byrne added.
At the same time, Byrne said the shared “renegade” brand culture is what ultimately brought the two together. “I think a motorcycle cyclist is a real renegade, and they’ve got this real renegade following. People are obsessed. It has a real community,” she added.
A look from the Belstaff x Represent collaboration.
Courtesy of Represent
Byrne believes that the Represent community will be interested in being introduced to Belstaff via the collaboration.
“We have been looking at our customer profiles for some time. We have a very loyal customer that we call Mr. Icon, who has been with the brand for a long time. We are mindful that it is going toward what is typically a younger customer for Belstaff. But that was part of what we wanted: to surprise and delight. Now you have Mr. Icon coming in with his son, and the Represent collaboration is something that caters to that younger audience,” she said, adding that the partnership also helped Belstaff to understand what sort of product it should focus on to win over a younger demographic.
Byrne said the collaboration contributes to Belstaff’s larger ambition set two years ago of expanding offerings and regrowing the customer base.
The results so far are encouraging. Prior to its first apparel collaboration with Represent, the brand teamed with TRL, a subbrand of Merrill, on two sneakers. Earlier this year, it also partnered with retailer End on another footwear partnership with Grenson on a trio of service boots. The sell-throughs have been “phenomenal,” Byrne said.
“We see this as being the first of many to come. We’re keen to see how Represent will perform because then that will give us some intel into the opportunities for the future,” she added.
Looks from the Belstaff x Represent collaboration.
Courtesy of Represent
For the Heaton brothers, Belstaff reminds them of their father, who loved riding motocross and was always decked out in Belstaff.
“When I was growing up, I wanted to ride these bikes, so my dad taught me how to ride and we’d be at the tracks every weekend. When I was at college, about to start Represent, my part-time job was in a motocross graphic design studio, so I was around bikes a lot. At 16, as soon as I could get road-legal, I was riding my crossers around the streets. So it’s a family tradition,” said George Heaton, who also serves as creative director of Represent.
During the development process, the two dove into the Belstaff archive, looking at vintage pieces and studying functional motoring details on legwear and neck label branding.
George Heaton said the leather motorbike jacket with a matte finish and minimal tonal branding was his favorite item in the lineup, while his brother Mike Heaton likes the canvas set, which was based on the classic trialmaster jacket and matching pants.
Ranked the 68th fastest-growing private company in the U.K. by The Sunday Times earlier this year, Represent is set to reach 100 million pounds in turnover by the end of 2024. It aims to increase that number to 250 million pounds by 2028.
Following the Belstaff drop, Represent will team with a major global sports brand, yet to be revealed, on a collaboration next year.