You can now wear a Rapha kit that’s made entirely from excess fabric produced during manufacturing — but not if you’re on the UCI circuit.
Rapha pulls together the Excess collection from scraps, those “unavoidable” results of making apparel, it said in a press release. Bibs, jerseys, socks, and a musette arrive in a contrasting palette of splashy brights and demure darks.
It’s a limited capsule, and Rapha transmitted the exact stats of the material savings: 2,303m of excess fabric and 24kg of yarn, plus zips, elastics, and labels (“used where possible”).
It’s a play for ethical transparency, an arena Rapha’s increasingly prioritizing. Its self-audit, or “Impact Report,” claims that the company has achieved 100% carbon-neutral shipping, and that its free repair service “keeps 9,000 garments on the road.”
Images c. Jered Gruber & Ashley Gruber Gruber Images
Still and all, UCI restrictions keep the pro teams Rapha sponsors — Team EF Education-EasyPost and EF Education-TIBCO-SVB — out of the sustainability stratosphere. The teams’ Excess kits still get 72% “majority excess material.” That owes to UCI regulations that enforce team kit consistency and other garment requirements, Rapha said.
You’ll pay a pretty penny to go Excess, but that’s nothing new when it comes to Rapha. Bibs fetch a cool $293 MSRP, and jerseys are $215 (for the top-notch “Aero” variant).
It ain’t all bad — you can get the socks for a reasonable $25. And the musette (no, not a small French bagpipe, but a feed tote) for $20.
