Robyn Lynch supported by Rapha
Collaborating for the first time, cycling specialist Rapha has teamed up with Irish-born designer Robyn Lynch for an exciting capsule of hybrid ready-to-wear with a conscious core. A long term fan of Rapha, Robyn reached out to Associate Creative Director and fellow Irish native, Ger Tierney after noticing that she had shared one of her posts on Instagram. The two design innovators arranged a coffee meet to talk cycling and pattern cutting and the collaborative project was born.
Undeterred by a global pandemic, Robyn took her own deadstock and combined it with some of Rapha’s to create an upcycled twelve-piece capsule. A keen cyclist herself, Robyn has often referenced cycling clothing in her past designs, fascinated by the design and technicality of these form-fitting garments that assist performance. Armed with Lycra shirts, cycling shorts and windbreaker jackets, Robyn deconstructed each piece and mixed with her traditional Aran knits, maintaining each technical element of the cyclist’s uniform set against loose-fit cuts that have become her signature.
Working in the confines of her home studio in Hackney, Lynch did what she does best: chopping, slicing and re-piecing technical fabrics into splendid hybrids. Think of her as Dr. Frankenstein, if he was armed with nylon. Stone grey Aran knits are spliced into Rapha windbreakers which are flipped and twisted to craft that slouched silhouette which has become Lynch’s go-to. More excess knits bulldoze into shredded jackets to make technical sweaters, or are used to create detachable bibs over Rapha lycra shirts. The most important element to a cyclist’s uniform – the skin-tight, lycra shorts – peak beneath more loose-fitting additions in ladish cuts.
While researching during her MA, Lynch was unable to find books showcasing Irish youth culture. In a sea of books and articles about different British subcultures, Pony Kids by Perry Ogden was the only book in the Westminster library that Lynch could relate to. “We have that [youth culture history], but I wanted to shine a light on it,” she continues. “That’s a common thread throughout my work.”
The vision of Ireland that Lynch presents in her work is rich in nostalgia and humor. Speaking about these influences, she talks about her own adolescence and growing up “on the cusp of change” in the ‘90s and 00s, just as social media began to take hold and shape our daily interactions. “It was such a different energy than now,” Lynch says, “It was a different world. I take joy in looking back at that time.”
Looking around for an injection of cash, Lynch decided to take part in the British Fashion Council’s digital showcase. “I asked Rapha if they had anything to donate that I could upcycle, recut and make into new hybrids,” Lynch remembers, “Ger sent me a bag of things. I didn’t know what to do with it.” The items began to take shape, and an impromptu photoshoot with her stylist Ben Schofield and artist Joe Cruz followed. “It was so effortless, we just weren’t thinking,” Lynch continues. “It was funny seeing the difference between a big-scale production and something so much more effortless, how both can have equal impact.”
Each piece is made with deconstructed Rapha garments cut up, one by one and carefully pieced back together with surplus fabrics from Robyn’s own studio. After finishing cutting and deconstruction each piece everything was produced and manufactured in London and is now available from Browns.
