I’m calling on Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point to introduce you to Belstaff. Here’s a précis: to understand the growth of a relatively unknown brand into a mega-brand you must think of it as an epidemic. It starts small, and grows like a virus. The moment it takes off, when it reaches critical mass, is called the “Tipping Point”.
If you own a motorbike, have read the biographies of Che Guevara or Lawrence of Arabia, or watched Scorsese’s Howard Hughes biopic, The Aviator, you will know Belstaff. These explorers and adventurers made use of Belstaff on their epic journeys. Belstaff, you see, is to the motorbiker and aviator what Asics is to the runner - essential, practical, cleverly but discreetly designed all-weather kit. So much so that when the Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell began work on The Aviator, she asked Belstaff to recreate some archive pieces for Leonardo DiCaprio. The collaboration was so successful that not only has Powell been nominated again for an Oscar, but also the company is about to launch a replica collection of the same classic leather jackets, called “The Aviator by Belstaff”. Belstaff was founded in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, in 1924 by one Harry Grosberg, who began as a manufacturer of waterproof jackets and coats. In the Thirties, the company expanded its range to include goggles, gloves, boots, helmets and bags, all designed to protect the rider and aviator in all weather conditions. By the Forties, half a million Belstaff waterproof jackets and coats had been sold. In the Sixties, Belstaff was the last word in cool, especially for young Italian Mods, most notably one Franco Malenotti, son of film producer and writer Maleno Malenotti, Italy’s answer to Robert Evans.
It is thanks to Franco Malenotti and his two sons, Manuele, 30, and Michele, 23, that Belstaff still exists as a brand. Having worked with motorbikes all his life - designing some of the most prestigious bikes ever created in Italy: the twin cylinder Ducati 500, the Laverda 1000 RGS, and the Morino 500 Turbo - in 1986, Franco was asked by Belstaff to design jackets for its Belton range. He loved it. “I saw an opportunity and began to distribute Belstaff in Italy,” says the 59-year-old from the converted roadside barn near Venice that is now Belstaff International’s HQ. “It took off immediately.” In 1991, disaster struck. Belstaff’s failure to dominate the battle with Barbour (which had a Royal Warrant while Belstaff did not), meant that Belstaff’s owners, James Halstead plc, wanted to close the factory in Longton and cease trading. “I told them, ‘You are crazy! You will kill the dream of every motorcycle enthusiast in the world,’ says Malenotti. “So they said to me, ‘Take it, Franco. We are closed.’” Malenotti bought a licence and took over the factory (he finally achieved full ownership in 2004 at a cost of £10 million). With Malenotti at the helm, Belstaff soon became the market leader for motorcycle wear in Italy, then Spain, Germany and Japan, all countries that love the look and quality of traditional English outerwear. But this wasn’t enough for Franco. Belstaff was still off the radar as a global brand. Enter his sons, Manuele, a trained lawyer, and Michele, to market the brand. The lucky break came in 2002 when Balenciaga and Gucci referenced the 1953 leather Panther jacket in their collections, encouraging fashionistas to rediscover the brand. The result has been magical. A Belstaff motorcycle jacket, preferably the Roadmaster, Trialmaster or Panther, is now regarded as a modern classic, akin to a Burberry trench. Celebrities have caught on, too. George Clooney, the Dalai Lama, Noel Gallagher, Kate Moss, Jamie Oliver, Britney Spears, Jude Law, the Chili Peppers and Milla Jovovich all wear Belstaff religiously.
So what of this mythical Tipping Point? Miramax’s The Aviator, throughout which Belstaff appears, logo and all, started the roll. Then the producers of Ocean’s Twelve contacted Belstaff asking them to dress Brad Pitt and George Clooney. It didn’t happen, but Belstaff made it into the film in the biggest way possible: the bag containing the loot is by Belstaff. “It’s so funny,” says Manuele, “everyone is looking for the bag, it is the star of the film.” Meanwhile, Nicolas Cage wears Belstaff in his new films, National Treasure and Ghost Rider, Scarlett Johansson wears it in the forthcoming London-based Woody Allen film, and Britney Spears wears it in her pop videos and her daily life; Belstaff named a jacket for her, “The Toxic”. It really is an epidemic.
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“Now we are inundated,” says Manuele. “There are 20 films currently in production that we have provided clothing for; our sales have increased by 30 per cent. People are attracted to the freedom of the motorcycle life.” It looks like 2005 will be Belstaff’s year, the company is opening its first shop, on Conduit Street in London, and at last the brand famous for useful waterproof jackets has begun to do what it promised all along - become all things to all people.