Rapha what have you done FFS????

dodgy

Was going to post some words, decided no need <--apart from those words.

danlikesbikes

dodgy wrote:

Was going to post some words, decided no need <--apart from those words.

Reminds me of this, no?

thegreatdivide

dmclite-3.0 wrote:

I just got a Rapha musette bag from the bay, not the biggy messenger type but a small cotton one for long rides where self sustenance is required. I like Rapha, seems a bit homo-erotic (nothing wrong with that, btw but it is sort of Fellini ish too) at times or indulging itself a little, this is where the JVA army kicks in and normality is balanced out.
I like the gear, wish I could afford it, just ignore some of the bumph they put out.

This is road cycling we're talking about. You know, the sport where men wear skin tight lycra, shave their legs and get impressed by other chaps muscles!

Rapha ads are pretty tame - it's all about the suffering etc - whereas...

bernithebiker

dodgy wrote:

Was going to post some words, decided no need <--apart from those words.

Hmmm, REALLY not a good look........no matter how much it cost.....

cornerblock

^^^^^^^^^

Well it could be a very clever picture by the photographer and Rapha, it's saying..


'D'ya want some do ya? Well!! Do ya?!! :twisted:

dmclite-3.0

thegreatdivide wrote:

dmclite-3.0 wrote:

I just got a Rapha musette bag from the bay, not the biggy messenger type but a small cotton one for long rides where self sustenance is required. I like Rapha, seems a bit homo-erotic (nothing wrong with that, btw but it is sort of Fellini ish too) at times or indulging itself a little, this is where the JVA army kicks in and normality is balanced out.
I like the gear, wish I could afford it, just ignore some of the bumph they put out.

This is road cycling we're talking about. You know, the sport where men wear skin tight lycra, shave their legs and get impressed by other chaps muscles!

Rapha ads are pretty tame - it's all about the suffering etc - whereas...

Damn, you win.

Sagan, so hot right now !

danlikesbikes

Cornerblock wrote:

^^^^^^^^^

Well I think it's a very clever picture by the photographer and Rapha, it's saying..


'D'ya want some do ya? Well!! Do ya?!! :twisted:

Sure its not "what do you mean you don't have an soy for my decaf latte"

bernithebiker

Burgundy cardigans were last in fashion in 1985 if I remember rightly, along with Staypress trousers. I was 15 then, fortunately those clothes have been consigned to Barnados et al,.......until now.....

And one leg turn up with stripey socks?! Please!

dmclite-3.0

bernithebiker wrote:

Burgundy cardigans were last in fashion in 1985 if I remember rightly, along with Staypress trousers. I was 15 then, fortunately those clothes have been consigned to Barnados et al,.......until now.....

And one leg turn up with stripey socks?! Please!

I think you'd look nice in that outfit.

speshsteve

thats the guy from back to the future, you know Michael Fox's dad.

APIII

dodgy wrote:

Was going to post some words, decided no need <--apart from those words.

Not keen on the haircut.

Scrumple

styled with their winter embrocation?

danlikesbikes

Maybe he got it mixed up with the chamois cream

ethanhayes

To be honest, I don't actually think the individual products are that bad in this collection.
I'd be happy to wear most of it as casual wear! It wouldn't go near my bike though.
The way they have decided to mix & match them hasn't worked at all.

The photos are just piss poor though, and what on earth are the models doing!
Stick to what you know Rapha, moody monochrome shots of blokes looking tired

goonz

Im sure you all know the models are actually real cyclists so not exactly top at posing etc. Still the whole thing from collection to photos is just not a good look, wish they would stick to their road cycling gear and B&W photos.

danlikesbikes

goonz wrote:

Im sure you all know the models are actually real cyclists so not exactly top at posing etc. Still the whole thing from collection to photos is just not a good look, wish they would stick to their road cycling gear and B&W photos.

Some common sense, think the B&W styling should come back but as others have said it might be they are going at both ends of the market and looking for the hipster money too

thegreatdivide

Danlikesbikes wrote:

goonz wrote:

Im sure you all know the models are actually real cyclists so not exactly top at posing etc. Still the whole thing from collection to photos is just not a good look, wish they would stick to their road cycling gear and B&W photos.

Some common sense, think the B&W styling should come back but as others have said it might be they are going at both ends of the market and looking for the hipster money too

The City Riding stuff isn't new. Rapha have been putting this range of kit out for years!!!

goonz

Yes but it was limited to jerseys and cycling jeans not including the PS collaborations, now its hoodies and all sorts, some of it looks like its just come out of H&M!

TakeTurns

[/quote]

So this photo is supposed to reflect 'suffering'?

So why does his hair look so perfect...

To me, he just looks constipated.

danlikesbikes

thegreatdivide wrote:

Danlikesbikes wrote:

goonz wrote:

Im sure you all know the models are actually real cyclists so not exactly top at posing etc. Still the whole thing from collection to photos is just not a good look, wish they would stick to their road cycling gear and B&W photos.

Some common sense, think the B&W styling should come back but as others have said it might be they are going at both ends of the market and looking for the hipster money too

The City Riding stuff isn't new. Rapha have been putting this range of kit out for years!!!

Yeah but not in this style of advertising as the ad's have always been the same with dark & moody shoots in B&W now they just look like something from a Gap (showing my age) ad hence my quote of them going for both ends of the market.

thegreatdivide

Danlikesbikes wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

Danlikesbikes wrote:

goonz wrote:

Im sure you all know the models are actually real cyclists so not exactly top at posing etc. Still the whole thing from collection to photos is just not a good look, wish they would stick to their road cycling gear and B&W photos.

Some common sense, think the B&W styling should come back but as others have said it might be they are going at both ends of the market and looking for the hipster money too

The City Riding stuff isn't new. Rapha have been putting this range of kit out for years!!!

Yeah but not in this style of advertising as the ad's have always been the same with dark & moody shoots in B&W now they just look like something from a Gap (showing my age) ad hence my quote of them going for both ends of the market.

Seriously, this is not new for Rapha. The B/W ads stick in the mind, but for years Rapha have done a heck of a lot of their work in colour, both city and road...

City Riding 2012 inc the use of the white back ground:

http://slamxhype.com/style/fashion/raph ... editorial/

Video for the 2011 City range - arty ;-)

http://www.porhomme.com/2011/02/rapha-x ... ion-video/

Both Road and City 2010:

http://www.rapha.cc/images/RaphaLookBook-ss10Screen.pdf

Asterisk

bernithebiker wrote:

Given the prices they charge, couldn't they afford better looking models?!

The young lad is a up and coming rider that has raced in the junior Paris-Roubaix,i am not sure about the others though. I personally think its good that they pick riders for their models.

bernithebiker

Asterisk wrote:

bernithebiker wrote:

Given the prices they charge, couldn't they afford better looking models?!

The young lad is a up and coming rider that has raced in the junior Paris-Roubaix,i am not sure about the others though. I personally think its good that they pick riders for their models.

All well and good, but not sure if it's the model, the photographer, the clothes or the lighting, but it just looks crap.

danlikesbikes

thegreatdivide wrote:

Danlikesbikes wrote:

thegreatdivide wrote:

Danlikesbikes wrote:

goonz wrote:

Im sure you all know the models are actually real cyclists so not exactly top at posing etc. Still the whole thing from collection to photos is just not a good look, wish they would stick to their road cycling gear and B&W photos.

Some common sense, think the B&W styling should come back but as others have said it might be they are going at both ends of the market and looking for the hipster money too

The City Riding stuff isn't new. Rapha have been putting this range of kit out for years!!!

Yeah but not in this style of advertising as the ad's have always been the same with dark & moody shoots in B&W now they just look like something from a Gap (showing my age) ad hence my quote of them going for both ends of the market.

Seriously, this is not new for Rapha. The B/W ads stick in the mind, but for years Rapha have done a heck of a lot of their work in colour, both city and road...

City Riding 2012 inc the use of the white back ground:

http://slamxhype.com/style/fashion/raph ... editorial/

Video for the 2011 City range - arty ;-)

http://www.porhomme.com/2011/02/rapha-x ... ion-video/

Both Road and City 2010:

http://www.rapha.cc/images/RaphaLookBook-ss10Screen.pdf

Think we are basically arguing the same thing that the Rapha stuff is good & the city riding is not new.

Where we differ is that the new city ranges just looks a bit less raphaised in the styling department & more H&M, Next, Argo, Burtons etc.

The links you have put up are a good example;

1) Just looks poor IMHO. Model "whats my motivation for this shoot?" photographer/stylist "think of yourself as a zombie who might or might not have just done a poo in his pants"

2 & 3) Stylised in a much more artistic way. In tune with the style of the clothing and its target market. Plus both have been used in colour and B&W versions of the same picture sets on their website in the past. Best described as artistic, moody, reportage photography.

Understand that if Rapha are moving to split to attract a more youthful hipster type of crowd they need to change their ad campaign & have no issue with that. However as a photographer (albeit amateur but will some sense of artistic style) I think they could have done a lot better & at the price range not tried to go toe-to-toe with H&M etc but chosen to go toe-to-toe with someone like calvin klein, hollister etc

goonz

Understand that if Rapha are moving to split to attract a more youthful hipster type of crowd they need to change their ad campaign & have no issue with that. However as a photographer (albeit amateur but will some sense of artistic style) I think they could have done a lot better & at the price range not tried to go toe-to-toe with H&M etc but chosen to go toe-to-toe with someone like calvin klein, hollister etc

Good point this, the photoshoot quality looks like they are going toe 2 toe with H&M etc, but the price range, label and history of brand should mean they should be going toe 2 toe with the likes of CK etc as mentioned. Yet the photoshoot quality is no where near on a par to put allow them to compete with high end brands.

jane90

I can't help feeling that you either choose to do a studio shoot or you choose to work with non-professional models but combining the two will usually lead to unsatisfactory results. I can see why Rapha wanted to work with real cyclists and that's a very valid route down which to go. But if you're going to do that it would have been much better to do a documentary style photoshoot in an environment they'd be comfortable in.

People think it's very easy just to stand in front of a camera in a studio but actually the reverse is true. There's a very steep learning curve when you first start and although a good photographer can help a lot, the first few times can produce awkward results.

jane90

Double post.

danlikesbikes

bernithebiker wrote:

Asterisk wrote:

bernithebiker wrote:

Given the prices they charge, couldn't they afford better looking models?!

The young lad is a up and coming rider that has raced in the junior Paris-Roubaix,i am not sure about the others though. I personally think its good that they pick riders for their models.

All well and good, but not sure if it's the model, the photographer, the clothes or the lighting, but it just looks crap.

Agreed really like the use of young up & coming riders as can only be a good thing. Rapha have in the past used the UK squad members in ad's in action type shots and think they look good and well stylised. However these look..... well am trying to think of a way to describe that has not been used before..... no crap will do its just not well done IMHO.

philwint

I think the shots are reasonably on-trend. Look at Terry Richardson for example.

"Sh*t" lighting is currently very trendy. TR uses a lot of on-camera flash. These are lit by a simple small reflector 45 deg ish camera right and moderately high, with a slightly larger "fill" light similarly placed camera right.

Usually I hate this 45:45 degree set-up (much beloved of new studio photographers). But here I think it works

So we have a clumsy lighting set-up, but also clumsy 'non-models' so some internal coherence there. Mix this in with the hipster look and it does sort of make sense

It's not a million miles away from this sort of thing

http://trendland.com/hentsch-man-ss-2013-loobook/#

The lookbook style of this is ok too, as it's a different purpose than their usual Editorial look. This shows the clothes, the other sells an idea.

But what is really noticeable is that this has made a 4 page thread. here we are discussing a fashion lookbook on a cycling forum. If I was the Rapha marketing manager I'd be thinking "job done!"

bompington

philwint wrote:

..."Sh*t" ...is currently very trendy

I think we don't need to take this thread any further ;-)