being british-made in the world of motorcycle fashion means bringing an unparalleled look, feel, design, and insight into the classic traditions of motorbike culture. Getting there isn’t easy. Staying there is a mission few can endure. the next-gen british invasion of fashion for motorcyclists.
British fashion in motorcycling exists almost everywhere we look these days. When thinking of any nostalgic and / or classic eras of motorcycling, one of the top returns - if not THE top #1 return - is the British motorbikes era. Certainly, one of the reasons it resonates so much with people of all ages and generations is because the British era of motorcycling and British motorcycle clothing (during the heyday of the 1950’s and 60’s) was because it is just so iconic. It was a time that set in motion a long-lasting standard for what would become its own genre of motorcycling - covering bikes, lifestyle, social habits, and perhaps more than anything – fashion and apparel.
Thinking back to the start of British motorcycling conjures up a feeling of hazy days, black and white imagery, smoking tires, fast bikes, slicked-back hair, the energy of youth, and the promise of the untold future.
The things that occurred during that time had never happened before, and would never happen again. A lucky moment, a sheer happenstance, a curious sequence of events - call it whatever you will, but one thing is for certain. One cannot say is that any of it was done by design. It was more or less just one of those happy accidents. No single source had influence, or control, over it. A chain of unconnected occurrences that when viewed as one, would go on to shape the future of motorcycling - and British motorcycle fashion lifestyle - in the eyes of the world.
In post-war Europe, big social and economic changes were afoot. The British teenager now had a new, more care-free attitude, and while new foreign music and movies had entered the collective consciousness and begun to influence them, motorcycles were the new choice of the generation to get around. New locations for the riders of these motorcycles began popping up and would dot the highways and countryside, and would go onto be rediscovered in new, exciting, and entertaining ways.
The Ace Café, known worldwide now, was just a baby, and known as just the ‘Ace’ back then. A small, simple, roadside café for truckers and lorry drivers, the Ace would go on decades later to become recognized as ‘the most historically-significant and famous motor-diner on the planet’.
Born in 1938, the Ace would plod along like any other business at the time, through business ups and downs, through a world war, through a German Luftwaffe bombing that left it completely demolished, through a rebuilding that took years to complete, and through a physical, emotional, and social rebirthing that would eventually ‘catch lightning in a bottle’, and emerge as one of the absolute pillars of British motorcycling legend, and most certainly, led to the reason British-made motorcycle clothing and fashion is important and even exists at all today.
The Ace, in those early years, would see an ever-increasing number of teen motorbike enthusiasts interested in the gatherings of these bikes, would-be Ton Up Boys, and eventually full-fledged Rockers years later. In the 1960’s, automobiles would emerge as a another key transportation option, and more and more Rock ‘N’ Roll music recording artists would enter the picture. The Ace captured the attention of all of them and squarely offered up a place where all three things could be enjoyed all at once, and without any one of them taking the place of the other. They existed as single, separate interests in one respect, yet also as a symbiotic set of three great effects that almost could not be separated in the minds of the youth back then, or the eventual zeitgeist.
You could say that British motorcycle clothing style and British motorcycle clothing fashion in general was born on the same hallowed grounds on the outskirts of London as the Ace. As the bombs rained down from above on London during World War II, roots took hold and an entire of industry of motorcycling would soon be rebuilt and repurposed on those same ashes, and give rise to the whole manufacturing mechanism as it still stands today.
In those early years, the table was ‘set’, and anything that came after it would have to live up to the spirit, history, culture and hype of the lifestyle of the British motorcyclist.
And the British motorcycle clothing manufacturers far and wide would take note.
In the 1950’s, British motorcycling attracted young motorcyclists from all over of England, and London especially was the place where everybody looked for a place to call their own, to meet up with friends, and find girlfriends, to stop-off and talk about bikes and whatnot. After discovering American Rock ‘N’ Roll on London’s jukeboxes, England was awash in new thinking and new opportunities to build a real, attainable lifestyle that was previously unknown.
By the end of 1960’s, a movement of what would become the Mods & Rockers, and a new generation of American Muscle Car and Hot Rod enthusiasts, would arrive. British motorcycle style became legendary.
So those jukeboxes, now filled up with American records that the British servicemen would pick up abroad and bring back to England, would transform everything, including British culture and fashion. American recording artists like Eddie Cochrane, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Elvis, Bill Haley, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard would build the foundation of UK fashion from the ground up, from the first time the phonograph needle hit the record.
Before the war, nobody really seems to have cared, nor paid any attention to anything resembling a motorbike lifestyle. British motorcycle clothing brands really didn’t exist as such, save for the British leather motorcycle jacket companies like Lewis Leathers. But for the most part, the clothing industry, as it were, went about its daily business and routines. British cafe racer clothing companies would emerge years later as the market and emotional landscape matured, leading to a number of vintage British motorcycle jackets and other motorcycle-inspired clothing being produced.
Although the riders of the day rode Gold Stars, Triumphs Tritons, and Nortons, every British motorbike rider would soon end up with his own, new style. Fresh, new, vintage style leather motorcycle jackets were on tap to become the single-most important factor in leading the charge in British-made motorcycle fashion.
That feeling of acting like a rebel, and the feeling of acting as free as you can, is what showed us here at Ton-Up Clothing that a journey to celebrate motorbike culture, spirit, and the history of cool is what could add to the British fashion industry like nobody else. We take that approach to the production of authentic and vintage-feeling clothing and add it our ever-expanding catalog of superior-quality Ton-Up Clothing. We offer a unique wearing experience. Our fashion is in it for the long-term, not the fly-by-night sweat shops that sell you a tee shirt and after a ‘wash-a-few-times’ approach, t twists, fades, or falls apart. Our apparel is here to get better with age, and the more you wash it, the better it gets.
So, like in the 50’s and 60’s, that same feeling of community and passion is what it means to be British in fashion, and is defining a culture shift. Being true to who you are, and how you want to be perceived is the move. It’s more than just being cool, more than just being a Rocker in a café racer leather biker jacket. You can feel good about what you’re wearing, and how you’re looking, knowing that there’s a company who puts their money where their mouth is, and produces some of the best-quality motorcycle fashionwear the UK and the US has to offer. Whereas British leather motorcycle jackets were the desire for teens, those jackets still stand today here at Ton-Up Clothing as an example of the absolute pinnacle of British motorcycling. Showing off your wounds of a misspent adventure and youth, in tee-shirts, jackets, pins, patches and paints, showed who you really were - and who you really are. That’s who we are and why we do it. We wear them as proudly as you do.
At Ton-Up Clothing, we not only have our new, limited-edition, British-style motorcycle jackets from Lewis Leathers, which is a ‘Star Lightning’ jacket, carrying a Ton-Up ‘Starter Girls’ design, but entire collections built around the same essence. The artwork design is our own, a specific hand-crafted working of the spirit of the Glemseck 101 races, taking a nod from the starting line ladies who inspire the racers, and the audience, and throw up the flags to start the races in the most exhilarating way.
You could say the British Invasion continues to have long-lasting effects that nobody could have foreseen, and holds such an emotional place in the souls of motorbike enthusiasts anywhere in the world. At Ton-Up Clothing, we take our place in the line of British motorcycle fashion industry with great respect and responsibility, and humility, and make this promise -- simple, stripped-back design and British to the core.
That’s it. All made to the highest quality.
When it comes to our own Spirit of Rebellion, we buck the current trend in the clothing, apparel and fashion industry where manufacturers offshore everything to foreign manufacturers that use questionable manufacturing processes and labor, use cheap materials, and where quality isn’t a value at all. Our British motorcycle clothing is Born in Britain and made to the highest standards. You deserve nothing less!
When it Comes to British Made Motorcycle Clothing – Wear Ton Up Clothing Proudly – Look and Feel Great!
