Velodrome is just landing in the shop, and I wanted to share a little of what went into the print.
Design is often a metamorphosis. A bit of a mash-up. Ideas come from different places, at different times. They merge, mix, shift, collide and change shape. Some things stick. Others get discarded. Eventually, something new emerges.
Sometimes it starts with a very specific project and then takes a completely unexpected detour. That’s very much how Velodrome started.
I had been designing a kit for a friend’s cycling team in the Bronx (shout out to Bronx Girl Bike Gang!). While researching vintage cycling jerseys for her, I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole 🕳️🐇
And by fell, I mean wholeheartedly dove directly into the abyss…
Old Tour de France jerseys. Jockey silks. Chaotic geometric patterns. Unexpected color combinations. Bold shapes. All these different ways of using color and graphics to create identity.
I’ve always loved the visual language of sport.
Not just the uniforms themselves, but the strange combinations of color, shape and pattern that happen when function meets personality.
At some point I started wondering: what would my version of this look like for Rubisnacks?
I pulled in additional references I had been drawn towards and started to explore ideas.
And, well, the side quest became the print.
Checkerboards, stripes, lightning bolts, grids and geometric shapes. Colors that don’t necessarily need to go together, but somehow do. I wanted the whole thing to feel like it was moving, even when it was standing still.
Meet Velodrome
It’s a little chaotic. A little nostalgic. And very much inspired by the visual language of sport - but with a Rubisnacks twist.
A million drafts and iterations - checker, big small multiple colors, plain. Stripes and bold lines. My artboards were a chaotic mix I was trying to make sense of. I wanted to contrast the colors but also the blocks - thick stripes countered by thin, sinuous lines. Opposing colors, coming together in unity, make bolder with the black and white stripes.
And some lightning bolts, because why not.
What started as research for someone else’s cycling jersey ended up becoming one of my favorite prints to design for the brand. And I can’t stop expanding it into new silhouettes.
It was just the Phoebe biker short at the start.
“Ooh, but what if I made this in the Eos crop top?”
“I would love this in the Thalia sports bra.”
“Should I make a cropped hoodie windbreaker?”
“Yes, obviously.”
I must be stopped. I must be stopped? No. ;)
I think that's also why I love the idea of a print that doesn’t only belong in the gym.
The same coordinated pieces you might wear for a HYROX competition can become a cycling kit-inspired outfit, a matching set for a coffee run, or something you pair with jeans and boots for a fashion event. I like when sportswear starts to leak into the rest of your wardrobe, and the rules about where you’re supposed to wear something start to disappear.
The final test:
I attended a fashion innovation event last night and wore the Velodrome print with barrel jeans and pointy boots. My friend was looking for me while she was seated and remarked, “I saw your print before I even entered the room.”
And that’s the point. Bold. Present. Movement. Identity.
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