Siegelman Stable Celebrates Hambletonian Centennial Horserace

Styles from the Siegelman Stable’s Hambletonian collection.

Photo Courtesy of Siegelman Stable

Equine activity has inspired more than one fashion brand. To wit, Hermès and Polo Ralph Lauren both take their inspiration from horse-centric sports and the corresponding gear that accompanies them. Siegelman Stable quietly joined this specific brand descriptor in 2020. Founder Max Siegelman drew upon his family’s harness racing roots thanks to the boarding and teaching facility for the sport involving the powerful animal, a sulky and human direction that dates to the 1800s in the US. Now five years later in what began as a $300 investment to create couple of trucker hats and sweatshirts using the logo for the family business his mother created in the 1980s to give to family and close friends, the brand has expanded to full collection and via several partnerships. One such tie-up is with the Hambletonian race which is celebrating its 100^th anniversary.

HARNESSING AWARENESS

For the Hambletonian centennial the brand has upped the ante for a seven-piece collection channeling trackside style with a touch of streetwear that includes embroidered jackets, red piping, matching sets, and vintage tees. Additionally, the brand with takeover one of the boxes at the Meadowlands where the event will take place and give a luxe gloss up in line with the brands ethos.

Speaking over Zoom in the parking lot of the New Jersey arena the day before the event, Siegelman notes how close he is to where the family’s stable business was.

“We have done merchandise collaborations with the Hambletonian for the last few years, but this is the first time to create the experience and bring people out to see the race. Like all our pop-up locations, we are redoing the box décor to lean into the Eighties aesthetic. The stables were founded in 1982, and I want to stick true to the brand story, which essentially is my father,” said Siegelman. While the elder Siegelman was a driver and then training for the sport, the younger admits while he loves horses it wasn’t his thing. “I could probably count on my two hands how many times I’ve ridden a horse in the saddle or cart,” he confessed.

While it’s had its ups and downs, harness racing also referred to as the Trotters, was a prestigious happening in the past; in the 1970s, 1980s and even the 1990s attendees were dressed in suits and dresses, drinking champagne and smoking expensive cigars according to Siegelman.

“We’re bringing a different type of elevated style to the track. Our intention with the Hambletonian is to attract a new audience to experience it for the first time and engage with it,” Siegelman explained.

SCORING POINTS

Harness racing isn’t the only sport that Siegelman has partnered up with. The founder worked as a creative marketing consultant for hip hop music artists and NBA and NFL figures.

“I ran cultural relevance at Outfront Media for seven and a half years,” he continued noting the experience at the billboard and OOH advertising firm helped build a buzzy and strategic ‘Rolodex’ of connections, a crucial aspect of Siegelman Stable’s founding success.

Thus, the brand has over 70 collaboration projects under its belt since its founding with names like the Knicks, the Rangers, Major League Baseball teams such as an upcoming Mets collaboration, along with Don Julio tequila and Johnny Walker whiskey under parent company Diageo for the Superbowl. This past July 4^th the brand launched a collaboration with Ford to celebrate the anniversary of the F-150 pick-up truck. “Ford spoke to me because my dad had one, I grew up with my dad driving an Eddie Bauer edition Ford Explorer,” he added.

For a brand that Siegelman said was ‘started by accident’, the timing of the rise of fashion collaborating in new arena has been a fortunate and lucrative aspect. “Athletes and music artists are the face of fashion now, and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon,” Siegelman asserted

SHOPPING STARTEGICALLY

Thanks to Siegelman’s connections to the world of OOH media—a medium that has risen as traditional print media has diminished and digital media consumed on small screens has risen—the brand has made a its own splash in the billboarding world.

For a recent pop up in the Hamptons, the brand covered one of the infamous Jitney buses that cart folks to and from the city. That is also thanks to an ongoing relationship with Shopify, the online shopping platforms aimed at making digital transactions easy for both brand and consumer.

I had idea what I was doing when I needed to create and e-commerce website, but I knew two things for sure. Shopify was the easiest thing to use. I had seen brands launch on Shopify, like Eric Emanuel and Supreme a year or two later converted from their website to a Shopify platform. They make it easy to create a website. I still own SiegelmanStables.com. It’s my website but built on Shopify as basically the easiest platform to create a website,” Siegelman said.

The digital platform was also crucial in the brand’s longest standing pop up to date this past December in Soho. Additional pop-ups include the East Hampton initiative (hence the Jitney bus wrap initiative) and an upcoming pop-up in Manhattan this fall which will extend through the holiday season. “Retail experiences and in-person shopping is super important for us. I’m going to be on double down on that over the next 24 months,” he added.

THE RACE AHEAD

Siegelman has pulled off a slow and steady growth of his namesake luxury brand that stills retains an insider-only mystique with a lean team.

“We are a very small team; it’s three people full-time,” he noted. One of which is his creative director and fiancé Karoline Spenning who has helped expand the brand offering from hats, Tee and sweatshirts to include ready to wear and suits in the past 18 months. “Knitwear has also been really successful for us, we launched denim in the spring, swimwear this summer,” Siegelman noted.

“In the beginning, Siegelman Stables was very drop-ship model, DTC-based, but we’ve done some exclusive wholesale releases with stores such as CNCPTS in Boston, Forward in Aspen and its website. My perspective on wholesale is two-pronged. It’s exclusive capsules and not diluting the brand with letting everyone in but rather controlled distribution,” he said, noting his intentions for the brand.

“I want to grow slow, strategic, and organically, with people understanding who we are. It takes a long time to build a brand aesthetic from scratch. I don’t want to just be the next Von Dutch or I don’t want to just be a branded hat that everybody wants. I want to build a full-on lifestyle brand that’s going to last for a super long time.