Wrapped in style
Rooted in its motorsports heritage, the company has relaunched as a contemporary luxury brand
For decades, the name was only familiar to hardcore motorcycle fanatics who wore their tough, waxed cotton and leather jackets to fend off the mud and rain on the open road.
Belstaff kit was worn by Scottish actor Ewan McGregor on his rugged 32,187km motorcycle adventure from London through Kazakhstan and Mongolia to the Russian Far East in 2004, and then on a subsequent expedition through Africa.
The Argentinean revolutionary Che Guevara wore a Belstaff Trialmaster jacket on a motorcycle trip through South America that shaped his radical politics. American actor Steve McQueen, another intrepid biker, was similarly smitten with his Belstaff gear.
Belstaff is one of those sleepy British heritage brands that is roaring back to life. Its reputation is built on the genuine affection felt by its devotees for the quality of its high-performance clothing worn not only by bikers, but also aviators and sports car enthusiasts.
Its Trialmaster jackets, originally designed in 1948, became a favourite among biking legends both on the road and the racetrack. The brand clearly has integrity, but little was known about it beyond that tight circle of petrol-heads.
"I ride old bikes, mainly bikes from the 1950s and '60s, and you want to look right," McGregor said in a recent interview. "And because you have all that heritage in Belstaff, you have all that past - right there in the clothes, you can feel the style. I love it, there is nothing better or sexier."