Stanfield’s and East Coast Lifestyle Partner On New Clothing Line
TRURO — Two of the biggest names in Nova Scotia fashion, Stanfield’s and East Coast Lifestyle, have partnered on a new clothing line.
The new line of winter clothing, which the companies announced earlier this week, will feature a selection of classic Stanfield’s products adorned with the East Coast Lifestyle brand.
The line will include T-shirts, hoodies, socks, toques, and underwear, and long underwear for both men and women.
Rob Newcombe, Stanfield’s vice president of marketing and sales, says the idea behind the collaboration is to create a line of made-in-Canada clothing that reinforces Nova Scotian pride.
“Stanfield’s has a long, storied history [as a] Nova Scotia company, and then you look at East Coast lifestyle, and what Alex MacLean and his team represent, I think there’s just tremendous alignment there,” he told Huddle.
Stanfield’s can trace its history in Nova Scotia as far back as 1870 when Charles Stanfield established the Truro Woollen Mills. Since then, the company has expanded, building a brand largely around its underwear products.
East Coast Lifestyle, by contrast, was founded in 2013. In that (comparatively) short time it has become a de facto uniform for Nova Scotians looking to showcase their provincial pride.
“Even though there’s kind of, you could say, a difference in age between us, [we are] very like-minded brands,” Newcomb said. “In a lot of ways this partnership was a no-brainer.”
The two companies first collaborated around the holidays on a hoody. Newcomb said that venture was so fruitful they decided to move forward with an entire line of clothing.
Although the new winter line won’t be released until February 1, Newcomb says the two companies plan to continue their partnership. Already, he says, they’re working on additional clothing lines for summer and back to school.
For East Coast Lifestyle, the partnership with Stanfield’s is the latest of several collaborations the company has pursued in the past year.
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Late last year, the brand released a Pineapple Rum Soda, in partnership with Labatt, under a newly created subsidiary East Coast Rum Soda
A short time later, another newly created subsidiary, East Coast Chips, released its new product in grocery stores.
In a September interview, East Coast Lifestyle founder Alex MacLean told Huddle he wants the company to become a complete lifestyle brand.
“We’re hoping [2021] is our big year to really branch out into a ton of different industries, a ton of different categories, with different partners on board and different collabs lined up,” he said.
“We are really creating a whole, bigger lifestyle brand behind the scenes.”
Stanfield’s and East Coast Lifestyle’s new clothing line will be sold on the East Coast Lifestyle website and at the company’s retail locations, as well as at Pseudio stores across Atlantic Canada.
Trevor Nichols is a staff writer with Huddle in Halifax. Send him an e-mail with your story suggestions: [email protected].