Beltology: Kicking the belt business up a notch
Fashion

Beltology: Kicking the belt business up a notch

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To be honest, I never spent a tremendous amount of time thinking about the belts I've purchased and worn. I usually either just grabbed the cool, trending style I saw everyone wearing out on the PGA Tour or just went with your standard, run-of-the-mill leather belt.

I was recently introduced to Beltology and their belts have changed everything.

Launched in January 2014, Beltology is the brainchild of Andrew Heffernan and girlfriend Anna Lundberg, who met at the Parsons School of Design in New York and shared a common goal: to create a creative, comfortable belt that wouldn’t break your budget and could be worn by anyone for any occasion.

“We were following the explosion in men’s fashion and we were fascinated by a lot of the emerging accessory brands,” Heffernan said in an interview. “We saw a bunch of different colorful sock brands, sneaker brands, watch brands, tie brands and so on that were creating new innovative products and concepts around their category.

However, one very important accessory was left behind in this movement: the belt. Most men in America today wear the same brown or black leather strap that men have been wearing for generations. It is time for a change.”

The belts, which sell for $45-$65, contain premium rayon or waxed cotton in the straps, full-grain cowhide for the leather trims and Zamak metal (zinc base) for the buckles. All of the belts stretch, have no holes and currently come in more than 40 different colors and styles ranging from simple blacks, blues and browns to multi-colored patterns.

“We want men to start thinking about the belt as a more comfortable and wearable accessory, as well as an opportunity for expressing themselves,” Heffernan said. “For many men, the belt is an afterthought, simply an add-on that has been overlooked for way too long. We want to change this mindset.”

Beltology recently completed its first Made in NYC collection, which Heffernan says was a major step forward for the brand.

“It was our first move into becoming a vertically integrated brand, allowing us to move our business model to a place where we can launch a new style every week,” he said. “This allows us to react quicker to the styles we see are selling better and really be able to design into what is selling.”

Check out all the current Beltology offerings at www.beltology.com.

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John Lahtinen

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