BROOKS ENGLAND
“Though Brooks England’s roots in bicycle saddles run deep, recent years have focused attention on another one of its strengths: accessories. The company has been experimenting with bags, even wearable luggage, since its earliest days.”
A score of workers, their hands moving fluidly through time according to their individual craft and skill; the sound of metal churning as it coils in time is the cadence of hide becoming leather; the rhythmic bass of rivets, hammered by hand to a perfect, smooth finish.
A refined man knows that his bespoke shirt or suit has been touched by the hands of many in its making. That his experience on a bicycle should be considered with the same degree of precision and individuation has been the ethos behind Brooks England for nearly 150 years.
Founded in 1865 by John Boultbee Brooks, after borrowing a bicycle to get to work upon the sudden death of his horse, Brooks England began as a way to improve upon the comfort of the newly invented form of transportation. Brooks revolutionized the bicycle's flat wooden seat to become a saddle of sculpted metal and leather, defining a standard in bicycle seat design still marveled and mirrored by manufacturers and enthusiasts alike.
To visit the Brooks England factory in Birmingham, England is to experience something of a symphony: a score of workers, their hands moving fluidly through time according to their individual craft and skill; the sound of metal churning as it coils in time is the cadence of hide becoming leather; the rhythmic bass of rivets, hammered by hand to a perfect, smooth finish.
This kind of orchestral precision is why Brooks England has become a byword in quality hand crafted goods, making a bicycle saddle something of eyebrow raising note.
“A Brooks, more than perhaps any other saddle, is the one a casual perspective buyer will gravitate toward, whether it be at a flea market or online auctioning house, thus making yours a prime target for thieves.”
Though Brooks England's roots in bicycle saddles run deep, recent years have focused attention on another one of its strengths: accessories. The company has been experimenting with bags, even wearable luggage, since its earliest days, but a spike in the bicycle riding population worldwide has brought with it an increased need for quality products of minimalist and functional design that suit a man's style both off the road and on. With that, Brooks England seasonally designs a full accessories collection, from saddlebags to backpacks, produced with the same commitment to heritage and craftsmanship as its saddles. Likewise, Brooks England's leather bags are produced locally within England, just slightly further north in Manchester. Canvas bags are stitched together by skilled Italian artisans in Tuscany.
It's all in the details for Brooks England bringing custom precision to every aspect of a bicycle ride, from leather handle grips, down to trouser straps. Everything is crafted - except the bicycle itself. And with creative collaborations, including one with a selected group of Central Saint Martins’ students working to invigorate Brooks England for the technological age, the saddle brand rides its heritage swiftly into the future.
