Ah springtime! Seems like everyone is back outdoors jogging, biking, and playing their favorite sport that was abandoned in the height of a brutal winter. Need some new sportswear? Lonsdale is a label that I well know from Italy; but it is not Italian.Established 1960 in London by ex-boxer Bernard Hart, the line originally specialized in boxing equipment. He obtained permission to name the label after Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale—president of the National Sporting Club of Britain, which later became the British Board of Boxing Control.
Hugh Lowther was nicknamed “Yellow Earl” for always wearing a yellow carnation and driving a yellow Rolls Royce. Reputed as “England’s Greatest Sporting Gentlemen, Hugh donated the original Lonsdale belt in 1909 for the champion of each weight division.
So who has worn Lonsdale clothing since its inception? Stars like Mohammed Ali and Mike Tyson are among the many fans of Lonsdale. You may have even noticed Lonsdale in the 2003 movie, “The Italian Job.”
