This commitment to “Responsible Production” covers all new Henri-Lloyd products, twenty-three of which have been selected by the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team combining specialist on water kit with performance gear that focuses on multifunctional design built to perform in any weather and for any activity. This partnership will see Henri-Lloyd provide performance and onshore clothing as the British team competes across ten global events in 2022/23 in every condition and climate possible.
Henri-Lloyd brings over six decades of technical knowledge and innovation, driven forward with a pioneering spirit and relentless pursuit to always strive for a better way. From 1963 when founder Henri Strzelecki challenged convention by using the wonder fabric of the 1960’s Bri-Nylon to produce light, durable and flexible waterproof clothing for active sports, to 2022 where the brand launches its most ambitious performance product line that has responsibility at the core.
For Sir Ben Ainslie in his dual role as Chief Technical Officer at Henri-Lloyd, and as driver and co-owner of British Team, a commitment to produce performance wear that also delivered on responsibility goals was critical for both the team and Henri-Lloyd. As the first global positive sports league, SailGP runs the Impact League, a world-first initiative to make sustainability essential to the fabric of sport and to accelerate the transition to clean energy. SailGP's Impact League has a set of sustainability criteria - social and environmental - to operate against with each team awarded points based on its fulfilment of these criteria. Henri-Lloyd will accelerate SailGP Great Britain’s achievements on water and within the merchandise criteria with this partnership. They also join a new partner programme, COLAB, which will bring together companies from different industry sectors to drive positive change and behaviours and support the team’s ambition to win the SailGP Season 3 Impact League.
“I’ve been hugely proud to be a brand ambassador for Henri-Lloyd, they have supported my entire professional sailing career and I have seen first-hand how they strive to deliver the best performance wear on and off the water. We are incredibly excited to join them as they enter a new chapter of delivering performance with responsibility across their design, manufacturing, and business operations. These commitments align perfectly with our team's ethos and vision to protect our future and play our part in the vital action needed to tackle the climate emergency. This weekend we will be racing in high-performance kit that has been produced using organic, recycled or zero waste material, which is an outstanding achievement by Henri-Lloyd and an exciting step forward for sailing.”
“When we looked for sporting teams to partner with, it was imperative that they shared our own vision for a more sustainable future and having worked with Ben and his team previously we knew that their passion was genuine and a mutually beneficial partnership could be formed. Our challenge is to deliver the high performance kit that the team demands whilst having a minimal environmental impact, we know that what we do today will not be right in the future, this is a truly dynamic field and its where we and are our industry partners are striving to achieve the highest standards we can. Some of the elements exist to create products with minimum impact with today’s technology, but there is so much more to be done, and one our biggest challenge is to deliver a truly circular approach with todays limited infrastructure. The challenge of continual improvement in line with emerging technologies is one that we are look forward to tackling”. - Graham Allen, Executive Chairman, Henri-Lloyd.
