the vello foldable bicycle test.

A Pedaled Evening at Radlager Vienna

Yesterday, Radlager in Vienna hosted an interesting and inspiring bicycle cultural evening which included art, fashion, music and culinary aspects.
The evening was a welcoming party for the Japanese cycling fashion label PEdALED which will be sold from now on at Radlager in Vienna. The program featured an archery demonstration, films screenings, a book presentation, a really tasteful interpretation of miso soup ("zuppa di miso"), DJs, "the band", a photo exhibition and, of course, a fashion show (with models who really pedaled their bikes, not only walked them ;). All in all a great demonstration about how diverse bicycle cultures can become in Vienna.

Mister Diethard Leopold, president of the Austrian-Japanese society, performed  Japanese archery - Kyudo - for the opening of the evening.

The Japanese bow - Yumi - is asymmetrical with a shorter lower end and requires specific skill, codified in the "hassetsu". After releasing the arrow the bow will spin in the archer's hand and the string will stop next to the archer's outer forearm, a movement called "yugaeri". (image: Bernhard Schram)

The Japanese ambassador to Vienna Shigeo Iwatani (to the right) carefully watches the Kyudo performance. (image: Bernhard Schram)

PEdALED's Alice Icardi introducing the Japanese cycling garments to Vienna. (image: Bernhard Schram)

Cycling fashion show featuring PEdALED clothes. (image: Bernhard Schram)

Cycling fashion show featuring PEdALED clothes. (image: Bernhard Schram)

Cycling fashion show featuring PEdALED clothes. (image: Bernhard Schram)

The evening's band "Die Band". (image: Bernhard Schram)

The evening's band "Die Band".

Preparation of 'Zuppa di Miso'.

The PEdALED wear is characterized by the comfortable garments used which was verified by the author wearing the gray jacket to the left in this image. 

Thanks to the people who indulged us guests with their creativity and to Radlager and the PEdALED label for hosting this nice event. More of such evenings would do good in Vienna.

United Colors of Benetton vs. The Ghost Bike

Everybody would agree that the bicycle has traveled all the way from being either sports tool or poor person's transportation to becoming a lifestyle, if not even a fashion accessory. And it is interesting to watch and find collateral damage happening on the way.
Last week I surfed the page of Curitiba Cycle Chic, an excellent source on fashion-related bicycle news and stories. There I found some images of Benetton's spring 2012 campaign featuring young, beautiful (and a bit meager) people colorfully dressed in Benetton's colorful collection riding bikes, of course. Yet, after a second or so I sensed my bewilderment with this scene. Well, those bikes are nice and painted white, entirely, so the colors come out better. Wait, didn't I see white bikes before somewhere?

Benetton spring campaign 2012. Image copyright and source: United Colors of Benetton.

Well, yes, the ghost bikes, installed worldwide to commemorate cyclists who died in traffic, are also white. To me only two explanations appear as logic: (I) The art director (team) of this campaign has no real clue about bicycle culture and uses bicycles because they are hip; (II) The art director (team) of this campaign doesn't give a s*** about bicycle culture on the ground, knows about the ghost bikes and nevertheless uses white bicycles in the shooting for aesthetic purposes. I tend to believe in the first explanation.
Interestingly enough the white bikes give the models something ghost-like. They seem flying atop the ground on heavenly, almost invisible vehicles.  

Ghost bike in NYC, Brooklyn.

Nevertheless it is interesting to see that everyday urban culture and  commercialized fashion culture can be so far removed from each other. With a small hint for Benetton, I would add that such dis-respect for everyday urban culture - especially related to the ghost bikes which are a symbol of true grief for real (dead) people, and in that sense memorials - can also backfire and create a negative image for the brand. This was the case when DKNY was using orange bikes locked to NYC light poles in a rather self-embarrassing guerrilla marketing campaign. Attenzione Luciano, the blogosphere is already picking up on Bentton's ghost bike blooper. ..... 

Benetton spring campaign 2012. Image copyright and source: United Colors of Benetton.

 

Ghost bike in NYC, Manhattan.

So please, dear fashion community, stay more closely interlinked with the communities you're feeding off in terms of inspiration and ideas (or at least hire somebody who does so). Addressing Benetton: please show some respect for the ghost bikes memorials worldwide. For stories about the people for whom the ghost bikes were placed as memorials, please refer to ghostbikes.org.

Two men holding (ghost)bikes in almost critical-mass-ish pose. Benetton spring campaign 2012. Image copyright and source: United Colors of Benetton.