Wilis grew up around rally racing; his mom raced BMW 2002’s and Porsche 911’s in the early- mid 80’s in the Pacific Northwest, their favorite team was Martini. Her mechanic, a charismatic Northern Italian man, had Martini posters and memorabilia all over the workshop. Having been exposed to this culture at such a young age influenced Wilis greatly in both his personal and business lives. Seeing the combination of teamwork between both mechanic and athlete mixed with visual creative esthetic is the cornerstone for this rally race inspired launch.
We teamed up with close friends of the shop, WEREHAUS to create a video showcasing all aspects, inspiration and flavor of this project.
The apparel is paying homage to the machine itself by using a Porsche 911 with reappropriated logos designed by RZ Designs and printed by LQQK Studio on American Apparel soft zip hoodies and pocket T shirts combining talent here in Brooklyn using clothes made in the US. Check them out here!
We extended the inspired design from lifestyle to performance by creating a cycling kit manufactured by VOmax in Massachusetts which is available for pre order here.
To really ensure we got all bases covered with this launch, we made caps and bottles as well. Check them out in our web store here.
We decided to take this inspiration another step further to a race machine itself. For the design, we worked with Roz from RZ Designs on an Affinity Anthem made by Horse Cycle and painted by Ben Falcon, Producing a truly unique bicycle. The end result is a team coming together and combining skillsets to create a race machine worthy of the street, velodrome and crit circuit. There are only 4 available, one in each size, XS, S, M, L (see sizing chart here).
It’s available for purchase on our online store here as well as in shop!
To further enjoy the complexities of this amazing design, check out the gallery below of Ben’s painting process captured by Deluxe Cycles’ in house photog Jesse Shotland.
The overall concept of this project was to connect and celebrate key principles of rally and bicycle racing together, recognizing and paying homage to the similarities between the two; engineering, design, athleticism, competition, and a team to pull it all off.