Rapha (sportswear)

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Sportswear and lifestyle brand

title: "Rapha (sportswear)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["sportswear-brands", "2004-establishments-in-the-united-kingdom", "companies-based-in-the-london-borough-of-islington", "sporting-goods-manufacturers-of-the-united-kingdom", "clothing-companies-established-in-2004"] description: "Sportswear and lifestyle brand" topic_path: "sports" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapha_(sportswear)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Sportswear and lifestyle brand ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameRapha
logoRapha logo.svg
logo_size200px
traded_asRapha Performance Roadwear
foundation
founders
key_peopleFrancois Convercey (CEO)
location_cityLondon
location_countryEngland
area_servedWorldwide
industrySporting goods
productsClothing, accessories, skin care, cafés, Books
homepage
::

| name = Rapha | logo = Rapha logo.svg | logo_size = 200px | caption = | type = | traded_as = Rapha Performance Roadwear | fate = | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = | founders = | key_people = Francois Convercey (CEO) | location_city = London | location_country = England | location = | locations = | area_served = Worldwide | industry = Sporting goods | products = Clothing, accessories, skin care, cafés, Books | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = | footnotes = | intl = Rapha Performance Roadwear is a cycling lifestyle brand focused on road bicycle racing and mountain biking clothing and accessories. Rapha has its headquarters in London and a United States office in Bentonville, Arkansas.

History

The company was started in London in early 2004 by Simon Mottram and Luke Scheybeler. Its first products were launched in July of the same year. The name Rapha was taken from the 1960s cycling team Rapha, itself named after the apéritif drink company .

In 2007, Rapha partnered with British designer Paul Smith to create a range of cycle clothing and accessories. In 2016, it collaborated with bikepacking designer Apidura on a range of cycling luggage.

In August 2017, RZC Investments, a company set up by Steuart Walton, announced that it would buy Rapha for £200m.

In February 2020, Rapha announced that it would move its North American headquarters from Portland, Oregon to Bentonville, Arkansas.

In the same year, Rapha collaborated with Palace Skateboards on a cycling kit for professional cycling team EF Education–EasyPost at the 2020 Giro d'Italia.

In 2021, Rapha entered the mountain bike market, launching its first range of mountain biking clothing in collaboration with Smith on a line of helmets.

Organizations and venues

In 2015, Rapha developed an international cycling club called the Rapha Cycling Club (RCC), whose members get benefits with the company. Today, it has over 20,000 members.

Rapha has about 21 international stores throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. They are called "clubhouses."

The Rapha Foundation was created in 2019 by Rapha co-founder Simon Mottram and shareholders Tom and Steuart Walton to fund various non-profit cycling organizations, and to introduce cycling to a wider audience. It provides $1.5 million a year in funding, and supports non-profits in the UK, United States, Germany, Australia and Japan.

Sponsorships

In August 2012, Rapha announced that from 2013 it would be producing the clothing for the British cycling team, Team Sky. On 3 November 2015 it announced that its Team Sky sponsorship would end after the 2016 season.

In 2015, Rapha announced it would begin supplying clothing to the UCI Women's WorldTour team Canyon-SRAM. However, in 2022, Canyon-SRAM said it would drop Rapha as its clothing outfitters. EF Education First started wearing Rapha clothing in the 2019 race season, alongside UCI Men's WorldTour team EF Education–EasyPost.

In 2022, Rapha became a supporter of the UCI Women's WorldTour team EF Education–Tibco–SVB.

Rapha also sponsors UCI Continental cycling teams L39ION of Los Angeles and Roxsolt Liv SRAM, and professional cyclists Lael Wilcox, Maghalie Rochette, and Sarah Sturm.

References

References

  1. MacMichael, Simon. (2021-09-22). "Rapha to move to new headquarters in north London".
  2. Penn, Rob. (28 January 2010). "Pedalling fashion: the rise of cycle style". Design Week.
  3. Green, Lucie. "New sportswear line". Financial Times.
  4. (16 May 2012). "The Original Rapha". The Inner Ring.
  5. (28 July 2010). "Rapha + Paul Smith collection unveiled". Road Cycling UK.
  6. (2016-06-15). "Rapha partners Apidura for bar and saddlebag line". Cycling Industry News.
  7. (7 August 2017). "Walmart heirs' fund wins £200m race for cycling brand Rapha".
  8. "Our Investments – RZC Investments". RZC Investments.
  9. (2 March 2020). "Rapha moves NA office to Arkansas".
  10. Stanley, Jack. (2020-10-05). "An Official Look at Palace's Upcoming Rapha Collaboration".
  11. Broudy, Berne. (2021-06-07). "Rapha Launches Mountain Bike Collection, With Commitment to Support Trail Access".
  12. Faithfull, Mark. "New Rapha Clubhouse London Set to Ride the Cycling Boom".
  13. "Clubhouses".
  14. Robinson, Joe. (May 29, 2019). "Rapha to give $1.5m to grassroots with new charity foundation".
  15. Merrill, Jamie. (3 September 2012). "Sky's the limit for cult clothing brand Rapha". [[The Independent]].
  16. Scott, George. (November 3, 2015). "Rapha and Team Sky to end partnership after 2016 season".
  17. (November 20, 2015). "Rapha, Canyon and SRAM sponsor major new women's road team".
  18. Becket, Adam. (2022-01-19). "Canyon-SRAM unveil bold new kit as they depart from purple and Rapha".
  19. Ballinger, Alex. (2019-01-11). "EF Education First unveil stylish new tie-dye Rapha kit on eve of Tour Down Under".
  20. "Rapha {{!}} EF Education–EasyPost".
  21. (2022-01-25). "Team EF Education-TIBCO-SVB unveil their 2022 kit".
  22. (January 25, 2022). "EF Education–Tibco–SVB".
  23. Becket, Adam. (2022-01-20). "Rapha release L39ION of Los Angeles kit for 2022 season".
  24. "Legion of Los Angeles".
  25. Mullens, Peta. "Sponsors".
  26. "Roxsolt Liv SRAM".
  27. Hansen-Gillis, Lily. (2021-01-29). "Rapha expands women's roster as part of commitment to promote women's cycling".
  28. (2021-01-29). "Rapha furthers support of women's cycling with new signings".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

sportswear-brands2004-establishments-in-the-united-kingdomcompanies-based-in-the-london-borough-of-islingtonsporting-goods-manufacturers-of-the-united-kingdomclothing-companies-established-in-2004