Nona Varnado will sponsor the 6th annual San Francisco Supermarket Street Sweep, an alleycat to benefit the San Francisco Food Bank.

Sunday, December 3, 2011

The Supermarket Street Sweep is an annual bike race that benefits the San Francisco Food Bank! For the past five years, hundreds of participants have zipped around [...]]]>

Nona Varnado will sponsor the 6th annual San Francisco Supermarket Street Sweep, an alleycat to benefit the San Francisco Food Bank.

Sunday, December 3, 2011

The Supermarket Street Sweep is an annual bike race that benefits the San Francisco Food Bank! For the past five years, hundreds of participants have zipped around the city to local supermarkets and brought back thousands of pounds of food to donate to this wonderful charity.

SMSW stats:
2006: 80 racers – 1,172 lbs of food
2007: 110 racers – 1,595 lbs.
2008: 150 racers – 5,266 lbs.
2009: 198 racers – 7,507 lbs.
2010: 171 racers – 6,920 lbs. + $4,877

Total Meals To Date:
37,333

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If anything 2011 is the year that fashion definitely got excited about riding bikes around the city. But there’s already a collection of indie design labels dedicated to producing hip and sophisticated urban cycling fashion designed to be comfortable while [...]]]> Excerpt from The Bird Wheel’s “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Bicycle Fashion.”

If anything 2011 is the year that fashion definitely got excited about riding bikes around the city. But there’s already a collection of indie design labels dedicated to producing hip and sophisticated urban cycling fashion designed to be comfortable while riding while many of the new additions use advanced technical materials to stay dry or dry quickly, stand up to the rigours of dedicated riding while looking super chic at work or just being your gorgeous self. With so many major design players, athletic labels and a new generation of apparel companies thriving on the growth in cycling -it’s also great to see that many of the smaller labels are also focused on domestic production (swrve, Nona Varnado, Outlier).

Nona Varnado Fall 2010 Lifestyle Collection

In Fall 2010 a line of riding jackets, wool tunics, technical shells and reflective waterproof vests were released.  SS11 brought bike dresses, a Spin-collection and the NV Riding pant. Like Levis’ & Outlier, the NV Riding Pant is made with Schoeller AG fabric and cut to be comfortable riding all day long and in a unique spin: designed to look fabulous on a range of ladies’ bottoms. Black and Khaki colors are classic and work beautifully as a fashion staple. The collection is made in NYC and available only by inquiry.

Nona Varnado SS11 Spin Collection

Though Lululemon is the default apparel brand seen in spin classes nationwide – this is the first spin specific apparel line. Mesh tops and jerseys are modestly cut to hide bra straps in edgy color block paneling. Matching mini-shorts & capris. The interplay of mesh panels in key places make them super cool and breathable, but lack some of the details of major brands, such as key pockets or heat sealed seams. It’s spin-specific but any of the pieces work for runners and cross training. As much as yoga wear has entered the every day fashion lexicon, spin or cycling wear is poised to be the next generation of active sport fashion with details like sport specific fabrics and pockets over drawstrings and baggy bottoms. Lightweight, minimal and pretty enough to wear outside a spin studio, the brand is noticeably free from logos or any screen printing.

Including:

(My favorite local site/newsletter for women specific fitness and health)

Soul Cycle instructor Kym Perfetto models American Tweed ($325), a British wool jacket in a classic tweed pattern. The cycling specific silhouette has reflective piping, antique brass details, and a smart phone pocket.

Yoga clothes get [...]]]> Today in Well & Good NYC

(My favorite local site/newsletter for women specific fitness and health)

Soul Cycle instructor Kym Perfetto models American Tweed ($325), a British wool jacket in a classic tweed pattern. The cycling specific silhouette has reflective piping, antique brass details, and a smart phone pocket.

Yoga clothes get all the style props. But cycling fashion is moving into high gear thanks to chic bike stores like Adeline Adeline andSoul Cycle’s foray into fashion design. Its truest champion, however, is emerging Brooklyn designer Nona Varnado, who’s making gorgeous bike apparel right here in New York City.

Varnado used to be a secret among indie cyclists, with her apparel available only through her own website. But starting this month, the trend-setting bike hub, Bicycle Habitat, is stocking Varnado’s designs. Get ready to see her fashion-forward jackets and bike tunics—and come spring, spinning shorts!—around town soon.

The Wool Cycle Tunic ($195) is slightly longer in the back

“All the awesome cycling apparel is always for men,” says 30-year-old Varnado. “It frustrated me.” So the bike-racing Brooklynite, who studied art at the Cooper Union, took a detour into design, creating an eponymous clothing line devoted to functional fashion for city cyclists. Everything is made in Brooklyn using sustainable production techniques.

Varnado, who was also inspired by the “intense bike culture in Budapest” where she once lived, creates “anatomically based designs” that are also “just stupid comfortable.” We flipped for the technical jackets with flattering silhouettes. The reflective piping helps with visibility, but in Varnado’s hands looks more fashion than function. The jacket collars, some of which have hoods, can be worn four different ways to protect your face from the wind, or flatter your face when you’re walking down Bleecker.

The Fuchsia Jacket ($250), has a slim fit and a hood that can be worn four ways

“You want to look pretty no matter what you’re doing,” say Varnado, who spent years commuting by bike to a midtown office. “I was always looking for a job with a good bathroom, so no one would see what I looked like in my grubby biking outfit.” The debut of her tour de fashionclothing line makes that transition from the road to the real world seamless. —Alexia Brue

Nona Varnado is available at Bicycle Habitat in SoHo and at NonaVarnado.com

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Photo credit: Eric Wolfe