Bianchista: "What were the key factors in making the choice of products to tailor to the female market?"
Laura: "We decided a good place to start would be with the classic staples of the existing Rapha line. The obvious choice was the iconic classic jersey.
We looked at what products we already offered were proving particularly popular in the xs/s sizes currently available. We conducted focus group sessions, and they key thing that surprised us here was that women wanted practical, functional choices in their riding apparel. The shorts were a new product for us the design from scratch, and again focus group research told us women would prefer the half short design to traditional bibshorts. In also choosing the half short design, we felt that customers who actually do prefer the traditional design would be able to purchase our existing bibshorts.
The important thing to us in developing a foundation of women’s products, was that we didn’t want to create anything too different, in the way that we felt the products should be an extension of the Rapha brand, and perfectly complement the existing line. The brand image is successful and we want these products to fit perfectly within it."
Bianchista: "Does Rapha have plans to extend the womenswear range?"
Laura: "We plan to roll out a few products for the 2010 Autumn Winter collection, although to an extent this will depend upon the success of the Spring Summer items available at the end of March. We want to take our time and refine and perfectly hone the design details of new products so to an extent we are in no rush to flood the range with a lot of women’s products."
Bianchista: "Are there any plans for women’s casual-wear, as we have seen with the men’s products?"
Laura: "At the moment we are focussing purely on our 'Racing and Training' line for womenswear. We don’t have any immediate plans for a 'city riding' range directed at ladies, although this could well change in the distant future. We want to prove we can walk before we can run, and are concentrating on ensuring every detail on the ladies items we design is perfect."
Bianchista: "Will we see a women’s road racing team, building on the successes seen with the Rapha Condor Sharp team?"
Laura: "Rapha will indeed be running a ladies team, at a grassroots level within women’s racing. Our ladies will race under the Rapha Condor Club name. We will have a schedule of at least 10 races per season for the team, with 6 riders riding each race. The riders will also engage in a full testing program of all our womenswear, quite literally proving that our kit works in a race situation. We will see our ladies team race in the London Women’s Cycle competition also."
Bianchista: "Any exciting plans for 2010?"
Laura: "In 2010 we have some really exciting things happening. Of course June will see the return of the classic Smithfield Nocturne event, providing a day of exciting fast paced crit action in the heart of London. Rapha are also planning the Rapha Condor Hog Hill Series, an exciting series of 6-8 crits to challenge riders from all over the south-east, with races planned for ladies, men and also children. We will have more information available on this on raphacondor.cc when details are finalised.
We have stepped up to assume the position of headline sponsor to the 'Cent Cols Challenge' possibly the most epic riding experience available on planet earth. The idea of the challenge seemed to fit perfectly with our ethos as a company and seemed a perfect union. We will also offer exclusive Rapha Randonnées this year partnering along with La Fuga (lafuga.cc), offering riders a luxury cycling experience of a lifetime.
April 11th sees us take on 100km of North London’s finest pave, on an informal free social ride, aptly titled the 'Hell of the North', ending with beer, frites and big screen Paris-Roubaix. Rapha has more of these social informal rides planned throughout the year."
http://www.rapha.cc/women
http://www.nocturneseries.com/smithfield/index.php
http://www.rapha.cc/rapha-randonnees
http://www.rapha.cc/team/
http://www.rapha.cc/rapha-condor-club-membership
http://www.centcolschallenge.com/
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