Brawn GP has signed clothing company Henri Lloyd as its first official partner. The fledgling team, formed following the withdrawal of Honda from Formula One, was in negotiations with a number of potential partners, including Richard Branson's Virgin empire, ahead of its debut at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, but Henri Lloyd was the first to put pen to paper.

The company will be Brawn's official supplier of clothing and footwear - an undertaking which is likely to cost it US$800,000 over the team's debut season. In return, Henri Lloyd will receive branding on the engine covers of the cars driven by Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello throughout the season.

"We are delighted to welcome Henri Lloyd to Formula One and to the Brawn GP team," said team principal Ross Brawn. "We are particularly proud to begin our association with a company which prides itself on innovation and design and we will be working hard with Henri Lloyd to produce clothing which provides the highest levels of fabric technology for our demanding working environment. The Brawn GP team has faced a race against time to complete our preparations for the first race of the season in Melbourne and we would like to thank Henri Lloyd for sharing our vision for the future of the team and their commitment in ensuring that the team's identity will be so well reflected in our team clothing and merchandise this year."

Paul Strzelecki, chief executive of Henri Lloyd said: "We are thrilled to announce our official partnership with Brawn GP, a team that reflects our proud British heritage and development of product innovation and technology. We are very excited about our future together and wish the team every success for the 2009 season."