Barbour International Launching Deus Ex Machina Collaboration
Barbour International will be launching a collaboration with Australia’s Deus Ex Machina for fall 2014—its first since Barbour’s motorcycle jacket collection became a separate brand. Deus Ex Machina is a seven-year-old custom motorcycle builder with flagship stores in Australia, the U.S., Italy and Bali.
The Barbour x Deus Ex Machina collection will include archive-inspired jackets with leather details and special Deus Ex Machina studs, knitwear and hand-drawn T-shirts.
Barbour’s head of menswear, Ian Bergin, called Deus Ex Machina an ideal first partner for Barbour International. “The collection incorporates the tradition of our long biking heritage into contemporary designs in a modern fit to create some very special products. It’s a collection that is bound to attract interest amongst bike loving aficionados across the world. Rugged Barbour construction married with Australian resourcefulness and a strong sense of creating products which are intrinsically right.”
Deus Ex Machina founder Dare Jennings added, “We are delighted to be sharing some of our DNA with Barbour International, a brand that holds a special place in our hearts as motorcycling enthusiasts. Barbour’s enduring quality and pragmatic sense of purpose sits in perfect harmony with our own philosophy.”
The collection will launch worldwide in July.
Barbour, best known for its waxed cotton outerwear, was founded in South Shields, U.K. in 1894 by John Barbour. Duncan Barbour, the third generation to run the company and an avid motorcyclist, added the first collection of all-weather motorcycling outerwear in the early 1930s.
Deus Ex Machina founder Dare Jennings became a multimillionaire when he sold Mambo, the surf brand he started in 1984. The Sydney, Australia-based entrepreneur launched Deus Ex Machina in 2006 as a custom motorcycle maker. The company also makes bicycles, surf boards and jackets. Its Venice Beach, Calif. flagship, which also houses a restaurant, opened in 2012.