Belstaff celebrates its centenary with "Our First 100 Years" - an archive exhibition and series of brand events in our home town of Stoke-on-Trent. Belstaff is pleased to announce the latest in a series of special projects and events to celebrate its centenary. Returning to Stoke-on-Trent, the birthplace of Belstaff in 1924, the brand will take over the Gladstone Pottery Museum for one weekend (Saturday 25th - Sunday 26th May 2024) to present an immersive brand experience and exhibition of its design archive for the very first time.
The exhibition will explore the history of Belstaff from industrial innovators in the Midlands to becoming the leaders in motorcycle and outdoor, all-weather clothing. Belstaff’s deep and unique connection to motorcycling will be highlighted with a space dedicated to the iconic Trialmaster, including the display of Hollywood legend and motorcycling enthusiast Steve McQueen’s original jacket. The brand’s long history as purveyors of outdoor apparel will also be brought to life through displays of archive outerwear, including some of the original pieces designed for and worn by Sir Chris Bonington in collaboration with Belstaff for his legendary climb of ‘The Ogre’ in 1977.
Earlier this year, Belstaff launched a new coffee table book ‘Belstaff: Our First 100 Years’, exploring the brand’s history and extensive research archive. The brand worked closely with leading vintage collectors from around the globe to source some of the earliest archive pieces for the book, some of which will be displayed for the first time at the exhibition. People have always been at the heart of Belstaff, and a series of social activities will take place over the weekend to give back to the local community.
Some of the people who worked for Belstaff - amongst them pattern cutters, machinists and factory supervisors - were featured in the book through new photo essays and researched images. Belstaff will be holding a reunion for ex-factory workers at Gladstone on Saturday 25th May as a way of celebrating the people who helped to build the business, many of whom still live locally and remain an integral part of Belstaff’s history. The Archive Yard Sale will also take place on Sunday 26th May, bringing together some of the UK’s top vintage collectors for a special, one-off market.
All proceeds from ticket sales over the weekend will go to Friends of the Potteries Museum, a registered charity with a mission to promote, support and improve The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery and The Gladstone Pottery Museum. The exhibition will also look at Belstaff’s future, and will play host to the final stage of its inaugural Cloudmaster project - a talent incubator and prize fund for the next generation of design talent, in partnership with the Manchester Fashion Institute. The finalists’ designs will be prototyped and displayed at Gladstone Pottery and the winner will be announced after a panel discussion with the project’s judging panel - hosted by author and menswear journalist, Charlie Porter.
The ‘OUR FIRST 100 YEARS’ exhibition is the latest in a series of special projects, capsule collections and collaborations to celebrate the brand’s centenary, which kicked off in March with the launch of the book and will continue throughout 2024.
You can download the full Press Release here.
Dear Stokies
Can I start by thanking you all? First, for buying so many of our unique T-shirts. We can’t wait to see some of the photos shared. I am in Australia currently, sharing my Stoke pride!
Second, to everyone who has signed up to speak in schools. Kaye Morrisey, our Relationships Lead, is currently putting together the directory with bios, and we’re aiming to begin in two educational trusts with students over the coming weeks and months.Dwain McDonaldExecutive Lead
Dwain McDonald
Executive Chair, Made In Stoke
Keele and Sixth Form College
We’ve secured three brilliant speakers for the next quarter, all of whom will support the business school with in-depth Q&As. We’ve also helped facilitate an excellent workshop with the business school and will work closely in the coming months to bridge business and academia.
Please reach out if your company has outstanding projects that sixth form or Keele students could work on. A big thank you to Rachel Laver, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, who was fantastic in bringing several large businesses from Stoke, such as Motiva, KMF, and Giv Energy. I see a lot more collaboration on the horizon for 2025.
Downing Street Visit
As you know, Made in Stoke is non political and has met with representatives from the previous government and now with the new one. Place-Based philanthropy and place-based giving networks like ours are very relevant, and I'm proud to say that Stoke on Trends' very own Made in Stoke was asked to attend Downing Street, and our fabulous Chair Nicky went and represented us.
She came back very confident that the blueprint we are creating in Stoke is something the country is looking at very closely
Centenary 2025
Next year, Stoke celebrates its 100th year as a city, and you can bet we’re right behind it.
We’re working with Made in Stoke members to look at how we support our centenary year, and we expect to announce the full story later this month.
Made in Stoke Ambassadors
We’re expanding our volunteer task force to spread positive messages about the city and the work we’re doing to make it just a bit better. If you’re interested in volunteering, even just a few hours a week, and think you can make an impact, we’d love to have you on the team.
Together, we can all do a little to make our city better.
