Collaborations and Releases with Fortela, Freenote Cloth, Gitman Vintage, and Batoner

This week, we have a release for the baller, the collector, and the kings of craft collectibles, featuring goods special enough for glass cases yet built for daily duty wherever the journey takes you, from city streets and farmers’ markets to the workshop or forest. With an exclusive capsule collection developed with Fortela using specialty Division Road-sourced cloths, Freenote Cloth collaborations crafted from custom-designed Fox Brothers® fabrics, limited-run Gitman Vintage Simple Jackets made from deadstock Fox cloths secured through years of sourcing, and the introduction of Japan’s exceptional knitwear specialist Batoner, this release offers our definition of luxury heritage.

Authentic heritage is a luxury not because of price points, but because of a naturally rare quality standard, limited production capacity, and the heart, soul, skill, and effort that go into every piece produced, collected, and worn for years. At Division Road, we have always aimed to match these inputs with presentation and service standards worthy of the product, while putting our design perspective and sourcing expertise to the test each season to create exclusive collections that might not otherwise exist in this corner of menswear.

We’re driven by the belief that things of quality should matter, and we put considerable intention and effort into making that ethos a reality. While some may consider style superficial, to us it reflects who we are and aspire to be, what we believe should be made rather than what is commonly made, and how sincere character can be expressed through what we wear. For those of a similar mindset, this assembly of rarities represents what Division Road is all about: goods that elevate the everyday, reward a lifetime of use, and make the pursuit of exceptional craft worth the effort.

Fortela x Division Road Fox & Lovat Capsule Collection

Collaborating with retailers on exclusive designs is not something Alessandro Squarzi and Fortela do routinely, and for good reason. It takes considerable trust to lend the Fortela name to another’s concepts, material selections, and product developments, especially when Squarzi is not only a tastemaker but also an authority on collectible menswear and beyond, with an exceptional ability to curate vintage references into something entirely new. We began with our usual formula, selecting some of our favorite Fortela pieces of the season and sourcing extraordinary cloths from two of our most esteemed British mills.

One of the finest Balmacaan Coats on the market, the newly introduced Amedeo, is paired with the Ringo Overshirt, featuring a perfected fit and considered detailing, both crafted in Fox Brothers® Twill Tweed for an exceptional combination of texture, structure, and refinement. From Lovat® comes our treasured Sonsie Tweed, produced by sorting fleece according to its naturally occurring shades, then spinning the undyed yarns and weaving them into richly dimensional solids and patterns with an incredibly rare character. This remarkable cloth is used for the Tristan Work Jacket, which moves between blazer and workwear, and the Cambridge Bomber Jacket, bridging archival flight and sportswear forms with effortless Italian style.

We are honored to work with Fortela on these Division Road exclusives. While this will certainly not be our last collaboration, these editions are destined to be neither discarded nor forgotten. The Fox & Lovat Capsule represents the kind of style-centric, subtly luxurious goods that we seek out, collect, and curate for our own wardrobes, where the expertise of the designer, the textile mill, and the retailer converge to create pieces that should become future heirlooms.

Freenote Cloth x Division Road x Fox Brothers Benson Pack

Another novel story of creating rare craft collectibles began with our ongoing work with Fox Brothers®, which led to a collaboration with Rosemarie Boon, the mill’s Head of Textile Design, on custom cloth developments for our 2025 Fall-Winter Residency. Originally woven in single rolls for exclusive Made-to-Order creations and blankets at our countryside gathering of craft, these textiles were too exceptional to remain a one-time development. To preserve the individuality of our clients’ Residency pieces, we commissioned a final, limited production of each cloth and allocated the material to exclusive designs with Freenote Cloth and Dehen 1920, marking their participation in the event without replicating our clients’ original creations.

In the first release of this series, we present two Freenote Cloth x Division Road Benson Shirts, crafted from proprietary Fox Brothers fabrics that will never be produced again. The Forest Hunter Check uses Exmoor Twill yarns to create a densely finished flannel character and an archival outdoorsman check, combining a distinctive natural palette with the durability of workwear and the refinement of luxury tailoring. The British Rally Plaid takes an adapted Twill Tweed article and an inverted plaid pattern in classic yarn colors, connecting the countryside surrounding The Fields with Fox Brothers’ historic home in Somerset, and reinterpreting a familiar textile tradition with a fresh sense of style.

Made in one of our favorite Freenote silhouettes and adapted for these types of DR Cloths, the Benson combines the substance of outerwear with the flexibility of shirting, complemented by a Japanese Cotton-Rayon satin lining through the shoulder yoke and sleeves for comfortable layering across seasons. Meticulous pattern matching and construction complete these limited-batch collaborations, further demonstrating why Freenote Cloth continues to set an extraordinary standard for American heritage production. Designed as functional wardrobe staples from irreplaceable cloths, these are true one-and-done collectibles designed for the long haul.

Gitman Vintage x Division Road Deadstock Fox Simple Jackets

Another revelation in our collaborative development program has been the Gitman Vintage Simple Jacket, which reinterprets the revered American Sack Jacket of the Northeast as a refined, modern take on an unfussy classic. From its unstructured construction and hallmark single-piece back to the notch lapel and patch pockets, this casual blazer offers effortless adaptability across ensembles, from sartorially relaxed to workplace- and event-appropriate. Through our close relationship with Gitman Vintage and the discovery of exceptional deadstock Fox Brothers® jacketing cloths from past sourcing and collaboration projects, we found the perfect opportunity to create limited editions of this new classic using material with provenance rarely encountered in the category.

In Fox Brothers®’ famous ‘West of England’ Twill Flannel, woven from fine Merino Lambswool, we offer a brilliant Harvest Houndstooth Check in a natural palette of wheat, tan, gold, and ebony, alongside a Blackwatch Tartan Check in forest green, midnight navy, and charcoal black that evokes nostalgic menswear in an entirely contemporary form. For those seeking a little more weight and texture, the ‘Twill Tweed’ Amber Brown Windowpane brings rich autumnal character and a luxurious depth that reveals itself upon closer inspection. Each limited-batch Simple Jacket takes exceptional cloth from our archives and gives it new purpose, pairing Gitman’s American garment-making traditions with Fox Brothers’ British textile expertise to create a casual-to-dress wardrobe staple that will serve well beyond any season.

Introducing Batoner

Last, but nowhere near least, we are pleased to formally introduce Batoner to Division Road, a Japanese knitwear specialist representing an extraordinary achievement in yarn development, knitting engineering, and garment construction. Operating from the 70-year-old Okuyama Meriyasu factory in Sagae City, Yamagata Prefecture, Batoner demonstrates how a singularly focused producer can advance traditional methods to create knitwear of remarkable material quality and contemporary form. With a meticulous yarn-to-garment philosophy, the finest raw fibers are sourced and developed into proprietary yarn recipes engineered specifically for the brand, enabling the finished pieces to achieve characteristics rarely found in conventional wool knitwear.

At the foundation of the collection is Batoner’s Signature Solid Wool Yarn, a specialized development that offers the remarkably smooth hand of fine cotton while retaining the natural temperature regulation, breathability, resilience, and durability of substantial wool knitwear. More expressive proprietary yarns, including Donegal Wool and Alpaca blends, add depth, irregularity, and dimensional character to the collection while maintaining the balance of softness, structure, and longevity that defines the Batoner formula. These developments allow classic knitwear to take on an entirely new identity, with material engineering informing the drape, texture, and silhouette rather than merely providing surface distinction.

The innovation continues through Batoner’s Signature knitting architecture, with three distinct form-knit structures that transition from the body through the shoulders and into the sleeves, creating a garment that balances traditional proportions with a directional, anatomical shape. Each section is knit to form before being meticulously hand-linked, producing precise transitions between the different knit structures and a smooth, refined interior that reflects the same level of care as the exterior. From the Signature Crew and Driver Zip to the One-Button Cardigan, proprietary Donegal developments, and a Nordic-inspired knit, this debut presents the breadth of Batoner’s capability without abandoning its disciplined production philosophy. We are proud to bring Batoner into the Division Road fold as another example of how an expert producer can take the most familiar wardrobe essentials and elevate them into singular goods that reinforce what luxury heritage is.