It is very difficult to attach an exact start date to Heartland Heritagewear. It has been in development over this past year and the tartans that helped inspire it a year before that, but the very origins of Heartland Heritagewear could be traced back to 2006 and the city of Aarhus in Denmark. It was here that co-founder Philip Tibbetts first started developing his understanding of the techniques and applications of heraldic art.
A keen graphical designer at his ‘home’ university of St Andrews, Philip enjoyed researching and exploring different graphical techniques. For Father’s Day 2006 he decided to design a coat of arms. Fast forward a year and he was now experimenting with coats of arms and flags for his beloved Black Country. Having seen the growth in town and county flags across the country Philip could not see why his own home should be deprived.
Never a fan of uniformity, Philip’s desire to express himself meant that he found usual black tie dress to be very dull. He researched the idea of kilts and discovered that in reality anyone could wear one. He felt that they looked smart and were far more meaningful and expressive than other styles of black tie. For a while he struggled to pick a tartan until he realised that district tartans were another type of local symbol – so why not design his own as part of the local identity campaign that he was assembling?
In early 2008 the designs were first shown to the public through the Express and Star (http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/03/17/flying-the-flag-for-black-country/) newspaper and the BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/content/articles/2008/03/20/black_country_flag_feature.shtml), and the campaign began in earnest. The remainder of the year was spent gaining political traction in the local councils as well as getting the tartans officially registered, which they duly were at the end of the year. Subsequently Philip was featured on BBC radio (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/content/articles/2009/01/12/phil_tibbetts_feature.shtml) and TV (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7825313.stm) in January 2009 wearing his tartans – the Black Country tartan had become the areas first official symbol.
Donato Esposito is the founder of the successful Bostin brand (http://www.ibostin.com/) and a keen and prominent supporter of local causes. Seeing the potential in what Philip was aiming to do, Donato offered him the chance to write a regular blog on his iBostin website (http://www.ibostin.com/category/black-country-flag/), where Philip has duly been writing about his campaign and showcasing his designs. As the year rolled on the response from Philip’s appearance on the BBC and other sites (http://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/4042965.Phil_s_tribute_to_Halesowen/) was impressive, and with orders steadily coming in he decided that the best way to promote the symbol and get it used by the public was to sell it properly.
With a product of high quality and community focus on one hand and with a strong and established marketing base on the other, Philip and Donato realized that they had a great opportunity. Not in the least Donato’s extensive business acumen and Philip’s cultural expertise cemented the fact that they made an ideal partnership!
So when was Heartland Heritagewear created? As a concept it has always been philosophically there waiting to be refined, honed and finally revealed. From that the ambition of Heartland Heritagewear has grown in its aims to additionally promote knowledge and pride in areas by revealing the beauty and heritage inherent in those places. Those aims are already beginning to come to term (http://www.halesowennews.co.uk/news/4671090.Design_a_flag_for_your_town/).
For more information on our co-founders, Philip and Donato, follow the links to their individual biographies, and for the continuing story of Heartland Heritagewear you can find current news on our home page and in the news archive by following the links below.