New Yorkers get on their bikes in
style
By Jui Chakravorty
Das
NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters Life!) -
New Yorkers are getting on their bicycles and they are doing it in
style.
Frumpy, unfashionable gear has given
way to sophisticated, chic and affordable designs by fashion
students as more city dwellers abandon the buses and subways to
pedal to work.
"New York should have not only the
most bicyclists, but the most stylish ones as well," Patti Harris,
the first deputy mayor of New York, told a news
conference.
Promoting bicycling is part of Mayor
Michael Bloomberg's agenda to create a greener, bike friendly and
car-free New York.
Following the examples of cycling
cities such as Amsterdam and Beijing, New York has built 200 miles
of bike lanes in the past three years. An estimated 185,000 New
Yorkers cycled to work in 2008, an increase of 35 percent from the
previous year.
In keeping with the city's efforts to
promote cycling, luxury apparel maker LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis
Vuitton asked
students at the Fashion Institute of Technology to create chic yet
affordable cycling gear.
"We want to do everything we can to
raise the profile of biking in New York," Janette Sadik-Khan,
commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation,
said at the news conference to announce the winning
design.
"Having functioning, attractive gear
so you can arrive at work looking stylish should be very
encouraging," she said. "No one wants to show up at work looking
like bike messengers."
A sleek jacket, designed by Jessica
Velasques, made of nylon mesh with an iPod pocket, an opening for
earphones, adjustable waist and a hidden hood was the winning
design.
Velasques also created a poncho with
a removable hood, magnetic closures and sleek pockets with bolt
button details, which was accompanied by a strap bag that zips open
into a large garment bag and holds an extra bag to stack a pair of
shoes inside.
Actor Matthew Modine, who founded
Bicycle for a Day which encourages people to use bicycles more,
said cycling can also help people cope with the slow economy by
cutting costs for car insurance, tolls and gasoline.
"Imagine how wonderful life would be
if you don't have to park to watch a musical, you have an extra
$30."
The DKNY division of Donna Karen International will
develop the protoypes of the winning designs. They will be unveiled
in conjunction with the city's "Summer Streets" program, when a
6.9-mile route from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park will be
closed to traffic so people can run, bike, walk and take part in
activities on three Saturday mornings in August. (Reporting by Jui
Chakravorty; editing by Patricia Reaney)