Represent x Belstaff: Uniting British Heritage

In an exclusive interview with Flannels, Represent Founders George and Mike Heaton speak on the monumental collaboration with British heritage Brand, Belstaff.

At a first glance, your brands feel very different so this may feel unexpected for many. What drew you to one another and made you want to work together in the first instance?

GEORGE: If I think back to the first instance, an ambition of mine has always been to work with a British heritage, British luxury brand as that is what Represent is to one day become.

Belstaff is absolutely one of those brands, standing the test of time through 100 years.

MIKE: Being able to work with a brand that has 100 years of outerwear excellence and a proven ‘Built to last’ attitude.

 

What has inspired you most about each other’s brands?

GEORGE: Reminiscing on my dad’s old film photos and going through his archives, he grew up riding motocross, so he’d always be decked out in Belstaff. The brand had become synonymous in the family and as a young creative in fashion, myself and Mike would reference Belstaff's logo alongside their craftsmanship on the outerwear. This is inspiring to a much younger, contemporary brand finding our DNA and establishing our aesthetic through the years.

MIKE: I’ve always loved the Belstaff branding, It was very appealing to me to be able to find a process how we could marry such iconic branding together. Seeing the Phoenix intertwined with the initial.

 

Tell us about the collaboration. Where did you start?

GEORGE: Collaborations are such a force when done right, and such a pain when done wrong. For me, speaking on behalf of Represent, the collaborations we choose to do have to be naturally creative from the inception, and have to be very exciting from the first conversation. Belstaff was exactly that. I knew what I wanted to do, because I’d always had the brand in mind, and they knew how to make this happen.

MIKE: We started deep in the Belstaff archives - of which you can imagine were more than inspirational, from archival pieces, learning about functional motoring details on leg wear to vintage neck label branding. It really kick started the collaboration off. I can remember everyone leaving that first creative meeting at the Belstaff HQ in London so excited to get started.

 

You went deep into the Belstaff archives for this. How was it to revisit such a rich heritage and how do you go about developing that for 2024? Was there added pressure or feeling or responsibility?

GEORGE: Referencing archival pieces is always the pinnacle of bringing a product to life. For us as a young brand, having the ability to deep dive into such a classic, well made brands garments is not only so inspirational, but shows their commitment to quality, and even more so storytelling.

MIKE: Definitely, you have a real sense of excitement and your mind is flooded with ideas, but, at the same time it's about making sure the ones you decided to act on do the collaboration justice when dealing with such an iconic heritage.

 

Belstaff – of course – has a huge motorcycle legacy which has formed the backbone of the collection. What’s your own relationship with this subculture?

GEORGE: My dad was heavily into motocross as a youth, and collects vintage bikes that he rode back then. When I was growing up, I wanted to ride those bikes, so he 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. Figures like Steve McQueen were huge style inspirations and I have a few iconic images of him riding hung around my house in the UK, as well as a vintage triumph in my foyer.

MIKE: Like George said, it’s something we’ve grown up around. The the smell of a two-stoke engine seems to follow us to this day, featuring in a lot of our campaigns over the years. I’ve also always taken a lot of my design inspiration from motor racing, to the checkered flags at Silverstone or even vintage Harley graphics I’ll find in LA.

 

How and why is community so important to both brands today? You both originated in Manchester. How does the Mancunian spirit come to life in the collaboration?

GEORGE: Represent has really been built on quality, and quality creates community because consumers become loyal when product is great. That, alongside community being a value of our mission, means we’re always serving our community as best as we can, as they’re the backbone of our brand's trajectory.

The Mancunian spirit is built into Represent. The hard work, grit and ‘get on with it’ attitude runs through our team and you see it within the 247 workouts at 6am. We embody this through the tough leathers, ballistic constructions and heavily washed out cottons to build the blocks of these collaborative pieces.

What did you learn from each other through the process?

MIKE: As I touched on earlier, the fact that Belstaff has 100 years of outerwear excellence, this has really taught us a great deal about how to make luxury garments that not only have beautiful details but are also well functioning.

 

We don’t like to pick favourites, but what piece do you love the most in the collection and why?

GEORGE: The leather motorbike jacket is the exact envision I had when this collaboration was at it’s first conversation. The matte finish on the extra heavy luxury skin, with minimal tonal branding through layers of leathers and suedes finish it so beautifully, and opening the double head zip to the front you see the flowing ‘finish line’ flag print detail through the silky lining.

MIKE: For me it’s the Canvas set. Being able to put our spin on the classic Trialmaster jacket and matching pants was an honour. I think it’s the perfect example of two brands coming together; something so iconic but reimagined fitting more like a classic Represent fit.

 

What are your hopes and aspirations for Represent in 100 years? What would you like the brand’s legacy to be?

GEORGE: Legacy is the exact thing we want this to be. We’re here to build the best brand in the world, and that means not just the best product, but the best team, the best community, the best service, the best partners and collaborators and the best in how we show up. That’s what will carry us through the next decades.