Leader of the pack
By Tom Howells
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Rapha presents 'Rapha20: Past Forward'
This year, the brand is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a homecoming of sorts. Back in 2004, Rapha set its wheels turning with an exhibition dubbed Kings of Pain at Brick Lane’s Truman Brewery complex – a showroom-cum-shrine to road racing’s heroes, launched simultaneously with its touchstone Sportwool Classic Jersey, a functional and aesthetic piece of kit, in thrall to the jerseys of days gone by, that upended the resolutely non-sartorial, nylon-heavy world of cycling apparel.
In the years since, it's become a bona fide disruptor: with its own cycling club, Clubhouses, collaborations with Paul Smith collabs and Palace skateboards, and a faultless inventory of cycling and lifestyle kit transcending its niche beginnings.
For LDF24, Rapha returns to the same site with Rapha20: Past Forward. The show is multifaceted; more abstract and experiential than before, incorporating a ‘Future of Cycling’ manifesto (featuring interviews a bevy of cycling-world impresarios, whether riders, designers or community leaders increasing diversity within the sport), experiential design by branding agency Made Thought and a kinetic sculpture by Isabel + Helen, bringing to life the story of the brand’s new touchstone piece.
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“People might come thinking it's just going to be a collection of jerseys on mannequins,” explains Rapha’s exhibition co-lead, Jess Morgan. “It's very much not that.”
In addition, visitors can browse a pop-up boutique, and the more active velo-enthusiasts can set off on a series of curated cycling routes around the city, taking in classic Rapha club rides, architecture and modernism forays, and routes connecting the festival’s Design Districts. It’s a honed array of activations, exemplifying the brand’s cross-cultural status as an industry leader embracing cycling as a holistic calling – culturally astute, ecologically friendly, physically and existentially liberating, and socially egalitarian. Rapha has taken it upon itself, effusively, to place itself at the centre of this drive. “Rapha’s purpose,” says Morgan, “is to inspire the world to live life by bike.”
“We've been doing a series of different moments throughout the year to celebrate 20 years,” says co-lead Georgia Kasmin, “but this is definitely our pinnacle moment of celebration.”
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