The Bike in Style Challenge awards ceremony was held at the LVMH Tower Magic Room on Tuesday, June 2 in New York City. The event was in recognition of the winners of a fashion challenge: design biking attire that can serve as both functional and fashionable. The requirements included a poncho, a jacket and a travel bag for both men and women. In other words, it’s time to let go of the spandexy shorts image plastered in all our minds. We are ready for something with mass appeal. The challenge was a collaborative effort between LVMH, the NYC Department of Transportation and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).
It is always a positive sign when high fashion takes part in such eco-events because let’s face it, that is where every trend starts. In this case, we have a lot to gain from the trend: better health and a cleaner city. Celebrity guests Donna Karan, Marion Cotillard, and Hilary Duff were present to lend their support to the eco-cause and the FIT participants involved in the competition.
The event was hosted by the Chairman of LVMH Inc., Renaud Dutreil. Over the years, LVMH has worked to bring fashion and environmental sustainability together. It started 15 years ago with the establishment of their Environmental Department at the headquarters in Paris. Most recently, they have made an investment in Edun, the ethical fashion company owned by Ali Hewson and her husband Bono.
Guests at the event included:
- Designer and philanthropist, Donna Karan: Ms. Karan and the DKNY design team helped the students capture the essence of NYC in terms of “energy, colors and fabric.” The ultimate goal is to make “fashionable, functional urban biking a reality.”
- Celebrity Designer and biking enthusiast, Hilary Duff: Ms. Duff helped judge the competition and support the cause.
- Oscar-winning actress and Environmentalist, Marion Cotillard: Ms. Cotillard was also a judge and shared some remarks regarding her concerns for the planet for “generations to come” unless aggressive steps are taken at this very moment.
- First Deputy Mayor, Patti Harris: Ms. Harris helped reinforce the Mayor’s green and clean initiatives, “The Bloomberg Administration is dedicated to making New York the world’s cleanest, healthiest city and to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030.”
- Commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation, Janette Sadik-Khan: Ms. Sadik-Khan elaborated on the city’s efforts by discussing past and prior initiative to make, among other things, the city more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.
- President of the Fashion Institute of Technology, Joyce Brown: Ms. Brown discussed the parameters that her students were given to take on the challenge. This competition set out to test their “own skills in creating, practical, fashionable activewear that will help promote cycling as a mode of transportation.”
- The winners of the Bike in Style Challenge: Jessica Velasquez, awarded first prize and $5000; Jane Carlton, awarded $3000; and Stephanie Murphy, awarded $2000.
The designs created by Ms. Velasquez will be unveiled this summer, in conjunction with the return of New York City’s “Summer Streets,” in which a stretch of 6.9 miles of street from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park is closed to cars for people to run, bike, walk and take part in activities.
Bike in Style with the right bike - Prototypes for Fendi Selleria and the Suisse Hublot:
A big congratulation to all the winners. Now, what are we waiting for? Let’s all get out there!
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