Rapha, the British cycling brand with a name for distinctively understated cycle clothing, has announced a new collaboration with Liberty of London. A series of limited edition cycling caps featuring prints from the Liberty archive will be released from 11 to 21 September, in the lead up to the release of the new Rapha + Liberty women’s clothing collection.
Liberty of London is known for its fabric prints, which have a long history of featuring on scarves, textiles and fashion items. It's collaborated with a sportswear brand before, working with Nike on a collection of trainers featuring classic Liberty prints. This is the first time though that a cycling brand has had permission to raid the print archives, and Rapha has worked closely with Liberty to select and develop prints for both the caps and the women’s clothing range itself.
A Rapha spokesperson said: “For 10 days leading up to the launch of the Rapha + Liberty collection, Rapha will be releasing a limited series of Rapha + Liberty caps, each carrying its own print from the Liberty archive. Modelled by influential women from the cycling community in London, the caps are a nod to the shared history between fashion and cycling.”
The caps are extremely limited in number, and only available online from Rapha.cc, and from the Rapha Cycle Tokyo London and Rapha Cycle Club Tokyo. Each new cap, numbered and counting down from 10, will be revealed a day at a time. The first cap to be released, number 10, features the ‘Wiltshire’ print and is modelled by London-based writer and editor Yoko Aoki.
