HENRI-LLOYD X INEOS TEAM UK
Henri-Lloyd are delighted to announce the long-awaited launch of the Official Henri Lloyd INEOS TEAM UK merchandise collection. INEOS TEAM UK is Britain’s America’s Cup team for the 36th America’s Cup taking place in Auckland, New Zealand in 2021. The team will represent Royal Yacht Squadron Racing in their challenge to bring the Cup home. The merchandise collection includes key on and off-shore items that team wear during their day to day America’s Cup duties.
The collaboration between Henri-Lloyd and the team has resulted in a range of 13 versatile products, all in the team’s trademark colour palette of blood red, charcoal grey and navy with vibrant orange detailing. The collection includes a union jack peaked cap, next-to-skin tees, the team’s iconic red trousers and shorts, to highly engineered outer shells, designed for both the Solent and Auckland’s changeable conditions! This is the second time Henri Lloyd have supported a British team for the America’s Cup, they were the official performance partner to the British Challenger for their campaign for the 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda. Since relaunching the partnership in September 2018, the Henri-Lloyd development team have also been working closely with sailor, Nick Hutton, to design innovative high-performance sailing kit for Sir Ben Ainslie and the crew to wear on board the team’s newly launched AC75 race boat, Britannia.
Bringing the ‘Auld Mug’ home for Great Britain is the driving force for every member of INEOS TEAM UK, and it’s no different for the Henri-Lloyd team. Our design and development team, with input from the sailing team, have strived to create the very best technical sailing clothing in the world. It’s a mission first set out by founder of the company, Henri Strzelecki, back in 1963 where he embarked on the journey to create the unthinkable when it came to foul weather gear. “We are very proud to cooperate in development projects together with one of the World's most successful sailors and the British America's Cup team,\" says Hans Eckerstrom Chairman and controlling shareholder of Henri-Lloyd Group.
The partnership with INEOS TEAM UK is based on a long-held tradition as we’ve recently celebrated our 25-year anniversary with Sir Ben Ainslie, who we’ve proudly supported from the start of his three-decade career in 1996 where he received a silver medal in the Summer Olympics. Henri-Lloyd has always been a sailing brand that promotes British endeavours, even from way back in 1966 where Sir Francis Chichester wore our world-famous Consort Jacket in his record-breaking solo circumnavigation of the globe. Henri-Lloyd has always encouraged and embraced innovation, pushing what can be done to its absolute limit, which is why this partnership works so well.
The America’s Cup is the oldest international sporting trophy in the world. It is the ‘formula 1’ of performance sailing which is why we’ve designed the best, for the best. With the introduction of the new class of boat, the specifications for the team’s performance and safety gear have been even more critical, making it an interesting and fantastic challenge for the Henri Lloyd design team. Each garment had to be specifically engineered for the perfect balance of weight, durability and ease of wear. \"For many years Henri-Lloyd has provided the best performance products on the market. We are currently entering a new phase with new boat designs and new demands on performance. Henri-Lloyd’s designers have worked to produce innovative performance solutions that will enable us to achieve our optimal performance on the water\", says INEOS TEAM UK Team Principal and Skipper Sir Ben Ainslie.