Rapha (sportswear)
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Rapha Performance Roadwear is a
cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...
lifestyle brand A lifestyle brand is a brand that attempts to embody the values, aspirations, interests, attitudes, or opinions of a group or a culture for marketing purposes.page 16 Lifestyle brands seek to inspire, guide, and motivate people, with the goal of ...
focused on road bicycle racing and mountain biking clothing and accessories. Rapha has their headquarters in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
alongside a United States office in
Bentonville, Arkansas Bentonville is the tenth-largest city in Arkansas, United States and the county seat of Benton County. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers adjacent to the east. The city is the birthplace of and world headquarters locatio ...
.


History

The company was started in London in early 2004 by Simon Mottram and Luke Scheybeler. Their first products were launched in July of the same year. The name Rapha was taken from the 1960s cycling team Rapha, which was named after the apéritif drink company Saint Raphaël. In 2007, Rapha partnered with British designer Paul Smith to create a range of limited-edition cycle clothing and accessories. In 2016, Rapha collaborated with bikepacking designer Apidura on a limited range of cycling luggage. In August 2017, it was announced that Rapha would be purchased by RZC Investments, a company set up by
Steuart Walton Steuart Walton (born 1981) is an American attorney and businessman. Born into the billionaire Walton family, he is a director of Walmart, the world's largest company by revenue, co-founder of private equity firm RZC Investments, which bought Brit ...
, for £200m. In February 2020, Rapha announced that they would be relocating their North American headquarters from
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
to
Bentonville, Arkansas Bentonville is the tenth-largest city in Arkansas, United States and the county seat of Benton County. The city is centrally located in the county with Rogers adjacent to the east. The city is the birthplace of and world headquarters locatio ...
. In the same year, Rapha collaborated with Palace Skateboards on a limited edition cycling kit for professional cycling team EF Education-EasyPost at the 2020 Giro d’Italia. In 2021, Rapha entered the mountain bike market, launching its first range of mountain biking clothing in collaboration with Smith on a line of limited edition helmets.


Organizations and Venues

In 2015, Rapha developed an international cycling club called the ''Rapha Cycling Club'' (RCC), whose members get exclusive benefits with the company. Today, it has over 20,000 members. Rapha's stores are found in approximately 21 international locations throughout North America,
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
,
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
and
Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
. Rapha's stores are called "Clubhouses." Each location has a retail space, which sells Rapha-branded clothing and accessories, alongside a café area. The Rapha Cycling Club will hosts community rides and events at the store's locations. Rapha's stores also play host to a number of cycling-related events and art exhibitions throughout the year. In addition, Rapha operates mobile "Clubhouses" through Europe and the UK; venues that will travel to certain events throughout the cycling season. The ''Rapha Foundation'' was created in 2019 by Rapha co-founder Simon Mottram and shareholders Tom &
Steuart Walton Steuart Walton (born 1981) is an American attorney and businessman. Born into the billionaire Walton family, he is a director of Walmart, the world's largest company by revenue, co-founder of private equity firm RZC Investments, which bought Brit ...
to provide direct funding to various non-profit cycling organizations. The foundation's goal is to introduce cycling to a wider audience. The organization provides $1.5 million a year in funding, and supports non-profits in the UK, United States, Germany, Australia and Japan.


Sponsorships

Rapha used to co-own the UK-based cycling team with London bike brand Condor Cycles and the cyclocross team Rapha Focus. At the end of 2014, Rapha announced they would end their sponsorship to focus on
Team Sky Ineos Grenadiers () (stylised as INEOS Grenadiers) (formerly Team Sky from 2010 to 2019, and Team Ineos from 2019 to 2020) is a British professional cycling team that competes at the UCI WorldTeam level. The team is based at the National Cycl ...
and . In August 2012, it was announced that as of 2013, Rapha would be producing the clothing for the British cycling team,
Team Sky Ineos Grenadiers () (stylised as INEOS Grenadiers) (formerly Team Sky from 2010 to 2019, and Team Ineos from 2019 to 2020) is a British professional cycling team that competes at the UCI WorldTeam level. The team is based at the National Cycl ...
. On November 3rd, 2015, Rapha announced that their Team Sky sponsorship would end after the 2016 season. In 2015, Rapha announced it will begin supplying clothing to the UCI Women's WorldTour team Canyon-SRAM. However, in 2022, it was announced that Canyon-SRAM would drop Rapha as their clothing outfitters.
EF Education First EF Education First (abbreviated as EF) is an international education company that specializes in language training, educational travel, academic degree programs, and cultural exchange. The company was founded in 1965 by Bertil Hult in the Swe ...
started wearing Rapha clothing in the 2019 race season, alongside UCI Men’s WorldTour team EF Education-EasyPost. In 2022, Rapha became the apparel sponsor for UCI Women’s WorldTour team EF Education-Tibco-SVB. Rapha also sponsors
UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, th ...
cycling teams L39ION of Los Angeles and Roxsolt Liv SRAM, and professional cyclists Lael Wilcox,
Maghalie Rochette Maghalie Rochette (born 20 April 1993) is a Canadian cyclist, who specializes in cyclo-cross. Major results Cyclo-cross ;2013–2014 : 2nd Catamount Grand Prix 1 & 2 ;2014–2015 : 1st Pan American Under-23 Championships : 1st National Unde ...
, and Sarah Sturm.


See also

*
Sportswear (activewear) Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical sport-specific garments ...


References


External links

* {{Sports equipment brands Sportswear brands 2004 establishments in the United Kingdom Companies based in the London Borough of Islington Sporting goods manufacturers of the United Kingdom Sportswear Clothing companies established in 2004