thewashingmachinepost




..........................................................................................................................................................................................................

rapha gs imperial sportwool s/s club jersey, bibshorts and cap

rapha g.s. imperial club jersey, bibs, cap

progress is a double-edged sword, for while its forward motion brings us closer to an ideal, almost inevitably, it leaves behind the ideal that fostered the whole process in the first place. granted, there's every likelihood that part two will be a definable success, providing opportunities, incentives and facilities to aim towards the next ideal; the five-year-plan stretched to fit ten years.

rapha, as an ideal, began public life in july 2004, with a singular addition to the velocipedinal realm, in the shape of a sportwool cycle jersey available either in black with a white hoop on the left sleeve, or a white jersey with a black hoop. i first came across this sartorial revolution in the pages of the comic, guilt-stricken that, having considered myself to be well-informed on all matters cycling, this clothing innovation seemed to have sneaked up under cover of darkness. i called the number accompanying the brief review in cycling weekly, and a gent by the name of simon mottram, answered the phone.

rapha g.s. imperial club jersey, bibs, cap

that is one particular ideal that has long since passed into history. you should try getting him on the phone nowadays.

rapha began their commercial life in one side of a characterful perren street building, situated in london's kentish town. this was the original imperial works, a former piano factory around half a kilometre from kentish town railway station, accessed through a close, leading into a narrow lane. almost symmetrical in construction, the building was entered via a central staircase, allowing access to offices on each side. as i recall, rapha originally occupied one half of the second floor, eventually expanding into the other side of the staircase too.

rapha g.s. imperial club jersey, bibs, cap

i first visited in april 2007, when the occupants of the open plan space were current ceo, simon mottram, along with luke scheybeler, simon huntsman, joe hall and rene groot, accompanied by guy andrews, who was editor of the fledgling rouleur magazine, rising from an idea by mr andrews and taken under the rapha wing. mr mottram's desk was edged by the 'wall of pain', plastered with newspaper and magazine cuttings, interspersed with prototype advertising, none of which, as far as i'm aware, ever saw the light of day in print. captions such as 'you're going to die many times. make sure you have right jersey for the occasion', as well as 'your eyes are stinging, legs burning and heart racing. let's talk zips'. and proving that they were more self-aware than many would have thought, 'it's good that you're used to pain. wait till you see the cost of our jacket'.

and, inevitably, there was a pink sofa.

rapha g.s. imperial club jersey, bibs, cap

after ten years in the original imperial works, rapha employed too many people to fit into the confines of perren street, and moved to their current premises in tileyard road, a reasonable walk north-east of kings cross station. the new building is also dubbed imperial works, but it has, in my humble opinion, little of the character possessed by the old piano works (though the coffee machine is an impressive addition). and, as far as i know, the only present-day occupant, who also had a desk at the original, is mr mottram himself.

the spirit of perren street was, once again, in my opinion, substantially different from that of tileyard road. that, as they say, is progress. and part of that original spirit was the instigation of an all but secret cycle club, open only to invitees, dubbed gruppo sportivo imperial (g.s. imperial for short). and to show that those halcyon days of yore are not gone and forgotten, rapha have released a range of suitably monikered apparel for purchse by members of the not so secret, modern-day equivalent, the rapha cycle club.

rapha g.s. imperial club jersey, bibs, cap

true to form, and reflecting perren street's origins, the jersey, with distinctly belgian influenced chest hoops, is fashioned from sportwool, a combination of recycled polyester and merino. the three rear pockets are buttoned at the top, and eschew a fourth, zipped instance just like the original rapha classic jersey. and similarly, the quarter length front zip. but unlike its ancestor, there's ornate, purple embroidered scroll-work on the rightmost rear pocket, embroidery replicated on the side of the quality, lined, matching casquette. and there's a purple embroidered rapha emblazoned hoop on the left sleeve; some things (thankfully) never change.

rapha g.s. imperial club jersey, bibs, cap

i did have a slight issue with the impossibly luxurious (medium-size) bibshorts, more specifically the hem grippers. unlike many modern incarnations, the hems are remarkably solid in construction, as opposed to thin, internally glooped lycra. unfortunately, this rather prevented them from doing their job, by gripping those replica chris hoy thighs. do not misunderstand; when riding, they admirably fulfilled their designed function, but when standing insouciantly next to the coffee machine at debbie's, they had a tendency to resemble, at the knees, a pair of slightly baggy shorts. granted, this look had mellowed slightly following a lengthy ride. aside from that - and your mileage may vary depending on size; thighs and shorts - they were every bit the personification of classic that both versions of imperial works have brought us to recognise, particularly in their regal shade of gold-edged purple.

rapha g.s. imperial club jersey, bibs, cap

it's nice to look back every now and again, not only to remind ourselves of arguably more salubrious origins, but also to see just how far we've come in between. i can't deny that the trip from euston station to perren street's imperial works was a tad more characterful, than that from kings cross to the imperial works of tileyard road (perhaps because it led me past professional percussion and st. pancras baths.)

nostalgia is not only yesterday's thing.

rapha's g.s. imperial collection is produced using recycled materials and available only to rapha cycle club members. the jersey and bibs are priced at £140 each, while the lined casquette retails at £30.

rapha.cc

tuesday 20 july 2021

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................