While the apparel choices of cyclists have
long captivated Europeans,
bicycle fashion is just now becoming a point of interest stateside. Commuters, no longer confined to Lycra athletic gear, are pedaling through towns across the country in high fashion. The Sartorialist
regularly snaps pics of cycling fashion, and other photographers have followed with a growing crop of street style blogs that exclusively feature subjects on two wheels.
Downtown from Behind: The streets of lower Manhattan are teeming with beautiful people whose preferred way to get around the city isn’t in a cab, but rather on a bike.
Downtown from Behind founder
Bridget Fleming, an Australian-born photographer, stealthily snaps New York City’s cycling fashionistas, designers, artists, and musicians by shooting them from behind. These “non-portrait portraits,” as Fleming calls them, cleverly turn the concept of urban transit on its head by capturing these freewheeling creatives in seemingly quiet commuter moments. Moreover, DFB offers a wide-angle view of the most picturesque downtown neighborhoods, conveniently
catalogued by street. A DFB book is
scheduled for release from
Abrams Books this March.
Rapha’s Survey: Well-known as the pinnacle of cycling fashion,
Rapha makes clothes for commuters and racers alike. Now, the brand’s street style blog, Survey, tracks fashion trends among the cyclists of Tokyo, London, New York City, Los Angeles, and Melbourne. Produced with the help of
Gage+DeSoto, a Red Hook, Brooklyn-based design firm, the blog’s five photographers offer a global, and consistently democratic, view of cycling fashion. Of course, though Survey’s intent is to document riding style, the blog’s creators can’t help but give the bikes equal billing. Most of the accidental models keep it T-shirt-and-shorts casual, but many of their
rides are bespoke.
Bike Fancy: Time Out Chicago photo editor Martha Williams began commuting by bicycle about
eight years ago. Noticing a trend among her fellow cyclists, Williams started taking pictures of stylish women who ride bikes year-round, especially those who brave the harsh Chicago winters. Her resulting blog, Bike Fancy, chronicles “people looking good on bikes.” Spotlighting oft-under-recognized women cyclists, Bike Fancy hopes to elevate the
female presence in the bike scene. The blog aspires to convert potential riders with both cute outfits and thoughtful interviews about the role of biking in the cyclists’ lives and how they can help improve Chicago’s biking infrastructure.
