The Tour de France is the zenith of the cycling calendar; this year, the inaugral Tour de France Femmes is introduced to the competition, seeing women compete for the famed yellow jersey – indicative of the race leader – for the first time since the late 1980s (an equivalent women’s race briefly took place from 1984 to 1989). In celebration of the occasion, Palace Skateboards is uniting once again with British cycle-wear brand Rapha to create a special capsule collection – which even includes a particularly colourful pair of Crocs.
A first look at the latest Rapha + Palace collection
‘We are proud to be a part of the Tour de France, especially this year’s race which includes women for the first time in 33 years. We are buzzing on bikes and on putting a female focus at the forefront of this campaign,’ says Palace in a statement on the collection, which combines the British skatewear brand’s irreverent approach to design – in this case, the various garments feature cartoon dinosaurs, swirling motifs, and a liberal use of hot pink – with Rapha’s impressive technical and performance know-how. ‘Rapha and its designs regularly refer back to the sport and cycling history whilst Palace is disruptive, witty and always surprising.’
Entirely genderless, the collection centres around ‘change out’ kits for the American EF Education-TIBCO-SVB and EF Education-EasyPost teams – a set of vividly coloured cycling jerseys and bib shorts – alongside a series of items that are designed to be worn by the riders in between the various punishing legs of the race. It is not the first time Palace and Rapha have partnered with this team; in 2020, they collaborated on a kit for that year’s edition of the Giro d’Italia, an equally prestigious event in the racing calendar. ‘The kit created for [Giro d’Italia 2020] did not fall short of expectations,’ says Palace. ‘The kit created was something altogether different, merging the worlds of fashion and cycling and changing the face of cycling once and for all.’
Rapha + Palace Crocs
This latest outing follows a similar approach – pieces are equally appealing for both avid cyclist and those who have no intention of ever getting on a bike – comprising Palace + Rapha-emblazoned hoodies, cropped T-shirts, gilets, and cargo pants, shorts, and skirts which can be zipped away to various lengths, all in a vibrant palette of pink, purple and green (a number of pieces in classic black also feature). The dragon motif, chosen to represent ‘supernatural power, wisdom, and hidden knowledge’ appears throughout, as does Palace’s signature Triferg logo.
The final element of the collection, which launches in store and online on 15 July 2022, comes in the form of a limited-edition pair of Crocs in trippy shades of gradient pink and blue (Palace calls them ‘outlandish’). Each pair comes complete with a number of ‘jibbitz’, the charm-like elements which slot into Crocs’ perforated exterior, featuring the collaboration’s various motifs, from Palace Triferg and female gender glyph (♀) to the aforementioned symbolic green dragon.
INFORMATION
palaceskateboards.com
rapha.cc
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