Local start-up label Black Arrow Label (founded by fashion designer and rider Hannah Smith) launched its first product offering last month in Sydney. Like many of us frustrated with the lack of offerings available for women who ride, Hannah put her fashion design skills and entrepreneurial spirit to actually doing something about it.
Following the success of their men's range of kevlar denim, the team behind the Tobacco Motorwear company are responding to the demands of more women wanting a road tested denim that looks and feels like our favourite pair of jeans via their kickstarter campaign.
Often we get asked about the specifics of the gear on women we feature on IVV. Personally, we (Erica and I) have the same questions! When picking out my gear for riding, Iād much rather ask a woman (whose style and shape matches mine) where she got her armoured jacket. Sooooo.... we've gone looking in our first of many road style features of women who ride in varying capacities on different rides for you (and us) to steal their gear secrets.
Suffering for our shoes might sometimes be what we do as women, but have you ever considered that when it comes to motorcycle riding, your shoes are suffering for you? Research from the US shows that a whopping 30% of non-fatal motorcycle injuries happen to the legs and feet*. That means your shoe selection plays a key role in your decision making when it comes to wearing protective gear.
Like many, I found the process of finding motorcycle gear really daunting. In retrospect I found the same advice my mother passed on to me during "the sex talk" has a played a similarly major role in my position on navigating the world of motorcycle gear.
How much gear you wear and under what circumstances is always hotly debated amongst riders. Really it should be a no-brainer to always wear protective gear given how vulnerable we are on the road, however is it really a bad thing to care about how you look?
