London Fashion Week Men’s: Belstaff AW18
Following a recent return to British ownership, Belstaff celebrated its proud British heritage at London Fashion Week Men’s in presenting its dual gender Autumn/Winter ‘18 collection, ‘Made in UK’.
2018 is a landmark year for Belstaff, marking the 70th anniversary of its iconic four-pocket Trialmaster jacket. Originally launched to shield against the harsh weather at the Scottish Six Day Trials in 1948, the Trialmaster has since become a hero piece in each Belstaff collection with a rich and storied heritage. London Fashion Week Men’s provided the perfect stage on which to explore the legacy of the Trialmaster, with Belstaff revealing for the first time a curated selection of the Trialmaster Archive charting the fabric developments, design evolution and personalised iterations that have transformed the jacket into the icon it is today.
It was through her exploration of the Trialmaster Archive that Belstaff Creative Director Delphine Ninous discovered her inspiration for AW18. This season, the collection was influenced by the role of English subcultures in fashion. Set in Soho’s famous Vinyl Factory against a backdrop of punk, ska and rock tunes featuring The Clash and The Streets, the collection was presented among an industrial scaffolding set that helped accentuate the collection’s aesthetic.
I started looking at youth movements since the 1950s, referencing the vitality and energy of sub-culture such as the mods, punks, rockers and skins, who all in very different ways sought to express an inter-generational clash through music and fashion. As I discovered through the Archive, many were wearing 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.
As part of the ‘Made in UK’ collection, Belstaff this season offer a new 70th anniversary edition of its Trialmaster jacket with red check lining, reflective tape details and badges harking back to its motorcycling legacy. Cut with a contemporary fitted silhouette, the AW18 Trialmaster is constructed in a new British Millerain tumbled coated cotton to produce a worn-in, weathered look, with applied vintage Belstaff military labels and reflective tape adding to the jacket’s heritage feel.
The collection also includes a brand new, modern iteration of the iconic four-pocket jacket in the form of the Trialmaster Evo. Made with a tri-layer stretch nylon with waterproof, windproof, breathable and moisture-wicking properties, the Trialmaster Evo retains the distinct four-pocket silhouette while offering modern functional details such as seal taped seams, laser cut pockets, and a back vent system for enhanced breathability.
The Trialmaster Evo forms part of the Origins collection, sitting within the main ‘Made in UK’ collection and an introduction to the modern evolution of Belstaff’s classic pieces. The trio of pieces that make up the Origins collection—Trialmaster Evo, Slipstream and Trialmaster Evo Parka—celebrate the four-pocket silhouette with innovative new fabrications and technologies. AW18 sees the launch of a new heat mapping technology, a first for Belstaff, engineered to meet the precise requirements of the body in motion with in-built thermoregulation.
Alongside its celebration of the Trialmaster and its British heritage, the Belstaff AW18 collection also nods to the brand’s motorcycling heritage with many beautifully crafted leather biker jackets for women and men. Notable for its outstanding outerwear, the collection is built on a core of high-quality staples including distressed-look denim, chunky-knit jumpers, Breton striped tees and check scarves—largely in Belstaff’s signature palette of red, charcoal grey, black and brown.
Discover the Belstaff AW18 collection online at Coggles soon >>
