Cycling Cultures blog

Smithfield Markets was transformed on Friday night for the CityCycleStyle event. I found out about the event via a leaflet tagged on a bike parked in Clerkenwell. Some of the blurb:

Come and celebrate the diversity of City cycling at the first City Cycle Style, an event celebrating cycling as a fashionable form of transport in the City. Come for fashion, food and beverages within Smithfield Market’s hallowed halls. There will be live music, performances and interactive cycling displays. You can meet the latest cycle fashion designers try-on outfits and sit on saddles of some of the newest trendy bicycles. The event is in conjunction with the City Cycle Challenge which will be raising money for
Re~Cycle bike aid charity for Africa.

The market thoroughfare was closed off, a large curtain and screen filled one end and two double decker red buses housing pop-up bike shops lined the other. (I’m a keen cyclist and a huge fan of old routemaster buses – so this was particularly lovely to me). Cycle themed movies were projected on the huge screen hung between the buildings. In the centre, near the stage, a bar served beer and quiche (free with £5 entry fee) and Cliff bar samples. Nearby, a jazz/rock band entertained the growing crowd and a photographer documented particularly well dressed cyclists. Planters, running along half the length of the road, gave shape to a fashion runway of sorts. At points through the evening, a fashion show took place in front of the buses. Models riding a variety of fixed, vintage and sit-up and beg bikes did lazy choreographed loops in snazzy clothes – plus fours, capes, dresses, shorts, caps.