Kadisco: Cycling, Marketing, Sponsorship, Social Media

Towards an urban cycling identity

Posted on 07. Mar, 2009 by Josh in Bike industry, Client News, Trends

My friend and client Mike Martin – a photographer and one of the directors of MASH – has collaborated with Nice Collective on a new clothing line:

We are Martin of San Francisco. After a decade of collaborative work with Nice Collective, we have produced an imaginative synthesis of modern cycling culture and photographic aesthetic. Clean lines, simple ideas, and thoughtful execution has brought these two worlds together in our new line of apparel.

Family is our foundation and friends our inspiration. Martin welcomes collective interaction and is excited to share “our” like-minded vision.

The initial pieces I’ve seen are gorgeous and I know that the line was well received by retail buyers at the Cargo Trade Show in January. Of course I wish them the best and I really believe that Martin of San Francisco will be a success.

Although Mike’s line is the most high fashion example of cycling-inspired apparel that I’ve seen, it’s not the only one. Ccp from Japan exhibited at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in February, RVCA has made bikes a part of their culture, and Momentum Magazine hosted a fashion show at Interbike. With MASH, we’ve talked to a number of other brands that are interested in adding bike-specific touches to their clothing lines. There’s also the PUMA bike that I discussed with their CMO Antonio Bertone

(This post continues below the photo; I just wanted to show the whole shot…)

The common thread is not really about companies wanting to profit from the growing popularity of bicycling in urban centers. Fashion – at least this kind of fashion – appropriates compelling and forward-looking lifestyles and images, not just what’s popular. To me, fashion’s attraction to bicycles is another signal that urban cycling has arrived as a distinct lifestyle. People in the communities that give birth to broader trends in fashion and culture have begun to see the bicycle as part of their self-identity. Essentially, it’s the idea that tastemakers (a word that I dislike) are now saying, “I am a bicyclist.”

The bike’s appeal to this group is complex, but here are a few of the elements I see:

• The intersection of track bike culture and art
• A rejection of mainstream car culture
• Progressive politics around alternative transportation
• The minimalist aesthetics of the bicycle

Some people in traditional cycling communities see the fashionization of cycling and immediately start complaining about hipsters. On the contrary, I see it as an example of the universality of the bicycle. I’m continually amazed at this one contraption that can appeal to the creative class, the corporate class, and everyone in between.