New colourful kit draws inspiration from panic buying, post-ride grocery store runs and the ensuing feeding frenzy
(Image credit: IRIS)
During the first half of 2020 when the world was waking up to the onset of a pandemic, and global panic-buying left a staggering shortage of toilet paper supplies, former Dutch National Road Champion Iris Slappendel was in the middle of designing the new IRIS Spring/Summer 2021 collection.
Slappendel recalls how the pandemic panic-buying reminded her of the feeding frenzy that often comes at the end of a long and gruelling ride. When your legs feel like they’re made of lead, your stomach is growling and on the horizon looms the bright lights of a supermarket.
When the promise of sugar, salt, carbs and cold drinks has you frantically running up and down the aisles, grabbing whatever will fit inside your overflowing jersey pockets in a desperate attempt to fuel those final miles.
The IRIS Spring Summer 2021 collection is dominated by pretty pastel colours (Image credit: IRIS)
This was one of the main sources of inspiration behind the new seasonal collection which launches today, and sports fun and colourful patterns aimed to help you blend in between the grocery shelves.
“It’s now fair to say that although it was – and still is – a pretty frightening situation we are all living in, the world seems to have enough toilet paper for all of us”, says Slappendel, the founder of IRIS. “Personally, I’m happy that inspiration can also come at a time when the world seems to be falling apart, or is it just me that relates every situation to cycling? I hope you all love the new collection and that it will inspire you to ride your bike.”
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The collection was inspired by the frantic grocery run that comes after a gruelling ride(Image credit: IRIS)
We can all relate to the post-ride feeding frenzy(Image credit: IRIS)
Mildred joined as Reviews Writer for Cyclingnews and BikePerfect in December 2020. She loves all forms of cycling from long-distance audax to daily errand-running by bike, and does almost everything on two wheels, including moving house, and started out her cycling career working in a bike shop. For the past five years she's volunteered at The Bristol Bike Project as a mechanic and session coordinator, and now sits on its board of directors.
Since then she's gone on to write for a multitude of cycling publications, including Bikeradar, Cycling Plus, Singletrack, Red Bull, Cycling UK and Total Women's Cycling. She's dedicated to providing more coverage of women's specific cycling tech, elevating under-represented voices in the sport, and making cycling more accessible overall.
