Now the sole captain charged with steering design direction at Belstaff, Delphine Ninous has an embarrassment of riches at her disposal when it comes to archival material to mine. Case in point: Today, from its New Bond Street store, the 93-year-old outerwear specialist will begin to reveal the fruits of a nearly three-year project to buy back around 150 vintage pieces that run the hardy Belstaff gamut, from a 1930s flying suit to Steve McQueen–era biker leathers and beyond. This collection, already partly revealed at the joint presentation with menswear back in January, contained plenty of reimagined-for-2017 nods to that history, specifically Belstaff’s lesser-known incarnation as a provider of naval attire. Hence the duffle-coat-meets-parka hybrid, delicately oversize, in crackled-finish vinyl; the foul-weather cape, an interestingly pared-down, longer-cut version of the classic Belstaff waxed biker in a dark marine teal; vinyl wax parkas; and more.
Knowing your house’s heritage is important, of course. Yet being overly defined by it can be dangerous. Ninous deftly navigated these reefs by mixing in plenty of her own ebulliently gamine-y sensibility. It wasn’t just the styling and the setting that contributed to these images’ chicly re-shot On the Town–meets–On the Waterfront vibe: From the patent shoes and work boots via sailor-wide pants or slouchily fitted leather ones, up to the soft shirting and Bretons under all that shipshape outerwear, Ninous is placing her own identity within that of her brand—to the benefit of them both. The Jolly Roger ensign that provided the name and part of the theme for this collection was not, by the way, an invitation to pirate it.
