London, UK – Ahead of next month’s flagship Royal Ascot race meeting, Ascot Racecourse has launched a suite of new licensed product collections for 2021 with a selection of premium British brands and its first online shop, in deals brokered by IMG.

In a landmark moment for the racecourse, The Ascot Shop was launched in April and represents Ascot’s first ever e-commerce offering. Beyond the eight on-site stores managed by IMG, Ascot and Royal Ascot collections will now be showcased and available for consumers to purchase globally throughout the year via The Ascot Shop.

New licensed products for 2021 include L.K.Bennett ladies ready-to-wear  silk dresses, jumpsuits, skirts and tops, suits and silk scarves, plus Ascot’s first-ever footwear collection featuring courts and wedges. Available now from L.K.Bennett stores in the UK and China and John Lewis, prices range from £175-450.

In another first, 2021 marks the first year Royal Ascot will permit navy blue morning suits inside the Royal Enclosure and to celebrate, Favourbrook has launched its first Royal Ascot collection featuring a navy morning suit in addition to the more traditional grey and black variants. The collection also includes pinstripe trousers, waistcoats, ties and pocket squares.

Radley’s 2021 Royal Ascot collection has 13 new styles, including small leather goods for the first time, in wearable shades of Chalk, Salt Lake Pink and Butter Brown. The silhouettes are inspired by traditional leather saddlery techniques and one of the styles features hand-drawn illustrations.

Additionally, Charbonnel et Walker has created a bespoke top hat chocolate box, featuring a new flavour duo combination of milk sea salt and strawberries and cream truffles. Longstanding partners Christy’s London and Oliver Brown are also launching new Ascot-inspired collections in time for the Royal Meeting.

Felicity Barnard, Commercial Director at Ascot Racecourse, said: “We’re delighted to launch these new product collections for 2021 and extremely grateful to all our licensees who have created such elegant and inspiring collections. In a year when public attendance at Royal Ascot will be much reduced, we’re thrilled that The Ascot Shop website will provide people with the opportunity to purchase the Ascot and Royal Ascot collections online for the first time.”

Tim Smith, Associate Vice President of Licensing, IMG, added: “We’re extremely excited for the return of the summer racing season and are delighted to have worked with Ascot Racecourse to launch a curated portfolio of beautiful products specially designed to celebrate the occasion, as well as the online Ascot Shop.”

About Ascot Racecourse

Ascot Racecourse was founded in 1711 by Queen Anne who identified the land as being ideal for horseracing when riding out from Windsor Castle. The first four day meeting at Ascot took place in 1768 and at some point in time, the race programme started being referred to as Royal Ascot.

The two tracks, Flat and Jumps, now provide racing all year round and Ascot hosts 26 days of racing each year, including the five days of Royal Ascot. It is Europe’s premier Flat racing meeting, featuring eight Group 1 races and 19 Group races in total. Typically, 300,000 racegoers attend across the five days while the event is broadcast in more than 200 territories with a reach of 650 million households.

As well as world-class racing, Ascot Racecourse is also used as a film and TV filming location and as a venue for conferences, banquets, exhibitions, product launches and weddings, with 300 non-racing events annually. The land on which Ascot Racecourse sits is leased from the Crown Estate, adjacent to Windsor Great Park, covering 179 acres.

About IMG

IMG is a global leader in sports, fashion, events and media. The company manages some of the world’s greatest athletes and fashion icons; owns and operates hundreds of live events annually; and is a leading independent producer and distributor of sports and entertainment media. IMG also specializes in licensing, sports training and league development. IMG is a subsidiary of Endeavor, a global entertainment, sports and content company.