There’s every indication that 2009 could be a boom year for the stylish cyclist. And, praise be, it’s not going to be just lycra for weekend wannabes.
Last year we saw Topshop encouraging women to cycle in style something which has extended into the menswear side of things with Topman shoppers wanting the bikes in the windows.
Marcus Ross started the excellent project London Bike Style which shows just how much more there is to riding a bike well than the pricetag on your gear and the speed you go.Incidentally, he’s looking for a male model to wear some Timothy Everest clobber for a shoot.
Interesting to note that Timothy Everest is doing something bike-specific as he’s a designer with a good eye for making good clothing affordable, most notably in his work for Marks & Spencer’s Autograph range. I don’t think he’s going to be the last tailor to make a move into this area. Richard James has already developed a relationship with Condor for a very exclusive singlespeed.
Even Chanel do a bike these days, so it’s no surprise that Celine are doing a collection called “Bicyclette”, described as “couture sportswear” and very much in the Parisian cycling tradition of modern, relaxed and fun.
they’ve illustrated the press release with some lovely sketches by Garance Dor� which are really quite sexy and cool.
The item in the range that I most like was the shoes which had a certain old-fashioned charm about them.
Speaking of cycling and style, I wholeheartedly agree with Bikesnob NYC’s views in his interview with Belgium Knee Warmers:
“Helmets have pretty much killed style in road cycling anyway. Not that I have anything against helmets, mind you, but let’s be honest. Cycling looked better before helmets.”
From a purely aesthetic point of view, he’s absolutely on the money.
In case you were wondering why I haven’t mentioned my own cycling activity thus far, it’s because there hasn’t been much. I’m coming down with a cold again after taking a break to enjoy the Canadian Rockies over Christmas and New Year. I’ll get started again once I’m better, hopefully this weekend.