US designer founds wool cycling firm
A cycling apparel company based Ballard, Michigan was founded in response to a lack of warm clothing for cycling. Katherine Andrews started Telaio Wool Bicycle Clothing in 2009
while working on her final project for the Apparel Design Program at Seattle Central Community College.
“I was bicycling five hilly miles to school everyday in jeans and cotton t-shirts – I’ve never been inclined towards spandex or sports gear or carrying around a change of clothes – and, though I’d be warm when I arrived, I’d soon get chilled in my slightly damp t-shirt, and spend the rest of the day trying not to shiver,” Ms Andrews told local media. “Basically, my clothes weren’t working for my lifestyle and so I put my efforts towards designing, and making, some that did.”
Ms Andrews said she works with wool because it is the “original performance fibre”.
“It’s been, quite literally, perfected by evolution on the backs of sheep and goats all over the world, for millennia. It’s also sustainable and kind of classy, in the sense of being fine quality and classic.”
Ms Andrews said that when she wore wool, she did not get chilled after riding. “I think it’s important to get more people on bikes in street clothes because biking is for everyone, not just serious athletes. If bicycling is to become part of everyday life, it needs to look and feel like everyday life,” she said.
