From grassroots beginnings to one of the UK’S leading motorcycle clothing brands, RST has built its reputation on performance, protection, and value. Julian Challis finds out how.
In a market crowded with premium price tags and a maze of technical jargon, RST has gone about doing things its own way. For nearly four decades, the British brand has focused on delivering riding kit that blends style, protection, comfort, and real-world value, earning a loyal following and establishing itself as one of the UK’s leading motorcycle clothing brands.
This is a position that RST is very keen to maintain and build on. To find out how it intends to do this, I caught up with UK Brand Manager Joe Ross (pictured) at one of his regular product testing days to discover what makes RST unique within a crowded and very competitive market.
He explained how the company began: “It was founded in 1988 by Jonny Towers. He was a racing and sports motorcycle enthusiast and, at that time, motorcycle clothing was all about leather. There were a lot of very expensive, made to measure products out there, but there was very little for the average rider. So, having seen this gap in the market, he set out to provide good quality, fitted products that would be available to as many people as possible.
“And that’s the very simple philosophy we still push all the way through to today, some 38 years later. Obviously, our product range now is textile as well as leather, but we still carry that same ethos of delivering really high performance, really high safety, both active and passive, and comfort to as many riders as possible.”
RST’s rise to the top was not a quick or easy one, or indeed one defined by ground-breaking technological breakthroughs or pushed forward by high-profile endorsements. It has been far more about putting in the work and consistently producing products that made sense to riders and which they can afford.
Joe says: “It’s been such a grassroots thing really, a culmination over a long period of time. Jonny was always very keen on supporting young racers and investing in the future. When we opened the made-to-measure facility, that was really new ground for us. Being able to make properly fitted race suits for regular riders was pretty cool.”
As well as using its own in-house expertise to develop its riding gear, RST has also taken opportunities to collaborate with innovators within the motorcycle industry. This has proved a very astute business strategy.
Joe says: “One of the big moments for me was working with In&motion, which we started back in 2020. We began with race suits and then extended this into jackets and now vests and shirts as well. Having a complete airbag system within one of our products that a customer could just buy and wear straight away was a major step for us.”
And more recently, RST has yet again raised the bar, moving into a similar collaboration with D3O to provide next-level protection within many of its clothing products. Widely regarded as a leader in motorcycle body armour, the move takes the brand another step forward into providing even higher-quality impact and crash protection to its customers.
Joe says: “For me, D3O is the number one armour on the market right now. Any customer can jump onto the D3O website and view the full impact information for every piece of their armour. That transparency and honesty is incredibly important.
“As a company, D3O is going way above and beyond test criteria to deliver something that’s incredibly protective for the consumer. It is pushing the envelope in terms of safety, which is fantastic. Even with its CE-level 1 armour, which is so thin you can hardly feel it, the impact protection is really high. It’s that balance between passive and active safety that RST values highly, and fits with our ethos going back to the very start of the brand.”
BROADER REACH
After enjoying almost 40 years of manufacturing and steady growth, RST continues to evolve, drawing on feedback from professional athletes to everyday consumers, to the RST product team themselves who are actively putting garments through rigorous testing. As a brand, one of its strengths is its appeal to a wide range of riders. Everyone from new bikers choosing their first set of riding gear, right up to experienced riders investing in and updating their kit.
Whoever the rider, RST’s goal remains to provide protection across a wide range of budgets, and that inclusivity is central to the brand identity. As Joe says: “Everybody who rides a motorbike can access RST. That’s the greatest thing. Protection for the masses.”
But asked how the company balances the sometimes conflicting criteria of performance, safety, and affordability, the response is refreshingly honest.
“With great difficulty,” he says. “It’s something we focus on every day. With RST, our products are manufactured to a consistently high standard by skilled teams, and then supplied directly into our dealer network, ready for customers to see, try, and buy.
By keeping that journey straightforward, we’re able to offer high-quality products at a more accessible price point. And importantly, the core safety features remain consistent across the entire range, from entry-level through to our most premium products.
“All of our protective materials and components are the same throughout the range. For example, MaxTex, our abrasion-resistant polyester outer, is used from our entry-level products right through to our high-end kit. The difference at the top end is the addition of more ‘nice-to-have’ features, while every product includes the essential ‘need-to-have’ protection.”
FIT AND FABRICS
Another aspect of RST’s brand strategy that goes right back to its roots in making made-to-measure race leathers is a clear and consistent focus on getting the fit of its clothing right.
Joe says: “RST is a British brand with a global presence, and we design our kit with real-world riding in mind, whether that’s in the UK or further afield, across a range of climates. Comfort and fit are a huge part of safety. If you’re comfortable on a motorcycle, you’re better able to focus and less likely to be involved in an accident.
“We develop the shape and fit of our products through a detailed in-house design process, ensuring they perform well for riders in different conditions, from colder, wet environments to hotter climates abroad. That means a rider can choose RST with confidence, knowing the kit is designed to fit well, feel right, and perform wherever they ride. It’s something we consistently receive great feedback on.”
Since RST started life back in the 80s, motorcycling has evolved and tastes have changed. Where once leather dominated the landscape and riders’ gear cupboards, textiles now play a far more central role, none more so than in adventure motorcycling. For RST, the change was not just about the material being used, it was a fundamental shift in design and manufacture.
Joe says: “They are completely separate. Compared to leather, textiles move differently, they crash differently, they feel different, so all textile products are built with specific patterns and specific stitching.
“Textiles are at the forefront of science. There are always new materials and interesting ways we can use them. Adventure riding is perhaps one of the most technical areas because the demands are so complicated. You need it to be cool when you’re working physically hard off road, but you need it to be warm when you’re riding on tarmac for long distances. It has got to do everything. Adventure products are about the most technical products that you can actually make.”
LOOKING AHEAD
As adventure biking continues to go from strength to strength, RST clearly sees this as an area for expansion, but Joe is cautious about moving too fast.
He says: “It’s an area of growth for us and I’m excited to see our new product, Pro Series Adventure D3O, hit the market. But I want to see some feedback on those, in case there are aspects we can add into the new products coming at the end of the year. We are always looking to develop and improve our products and make things better. As they say, if you are not moving forwards, you’re going backwards.”
And it’s that clear and deliberate mindset of steady improvement and development that has proven so successful, maintaining RST as one of the UK’s most popular homegrown brands, yet with a global presence. From a start-up nearly 40 years ago, we reckon RST has the right formula for continued growth and success over the next four decades, and beyond.
