Lotus Teams with Norton & Sons on Special Project
To be unveiled later this year, project will draw on brands’ core values of light-weighting, performance-oriented design, and durability.
Lotus is working with the U.K.’s renowned Savile Row outfitter and bespoke tailor Norton & Sons to design and create something special “For the Drivers.” The creative project, a collaboration between the two quintessential British icons to be formally unveiled later this year, will incorporate both brands’ core values of light-weighting, performance-oriented contemporary design, and sporting durability.
Having celebrated its 70th year in 2018 and now undergoing a renaissance under new management, Lotus is famed for its illustrious heritage in Formula 1 racing and appearances in iconic James Bond movies. The company is a pioneer of light-weighting in automotive and motorsport. Many of the brand’s most famous innovations have come from the Lotus Engineering consultancy, which today is leading the way for the company’s entry into the world of automotive electrification.
The critically acclaimed Lotus Evija hypercar – the first all-electric British hypercar and the most powerful series-production car ever made – is the company’s first step in this new direction, and will serve as an inspiration to this new collaboration with Norton & Sons.
Norton & Sons, one of Savile Row’s longest-established tailors, was founded in 1821 and celebrates its bicentennial next year. It has clothed some of history’s most stylish and inspiring men, including Hollywood legends such as actor Cary Grant, British royalty including King Edward VII, and performance pioneers such as Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the speed of sound.
From its tailoring shop on Savile Row – the epicenter of the London fashion scene – it has developed an expertise in exquisite lightweight clothing for sporting pursuits. Norton & Sons works closely with the fashion industries of London, New York, and Paris, cutting and sewing elegant yet informal tailored pieces for a long list of celebrated designers.
“The year I was born Lotus won the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship,” said Patrick Grant, Director of Norton & Sons. “Growing up it was the definitive British sports car brand. James Bond drove a Lotus Esprit and it was the car that every kid in the playground dreamed of owning. Colin Chapman is revered as an engineering icon, a pioneer, and an entrepreneur of exceptional personal style. Norton & Sons has a long tradition of making for sportsmen and pioneers, so Lotus and Norton & Sons feels like a perfect fit.”
“Norton & Sons share many synergies with Lotus – we are both British brands built on performance, quality, and timeless style,” said Russell Carr, Lotus’ Director of Design. “We are both disruptors with modern thinking, a purist aesthetic, and a sense of adventure. Like our sports cars, the fruits of this collaboration will be handcrafted in Britain using British-made technical materials, and will have a genuine focus on ultimate performance through light-weighting.”