5 46 | April 2024
MINUTES WITH... BikeBiz speaks to Iris Slappendel of IRIS
After retiring from a 12-year professional cycling career at the end of 2016, former Dutch National Road Champion Iris Slappendel began working on her new apparel brand – IRIS, her first name but also an abbreviation – ‘I Ride In Style’. Previously collaborating with cycling brands creating designs for them (whilst juggling her professional racing career), Slappendel decided that if she truly wanted to create “the perfect cycling apparel brand” she would need to own the process from start to finish. In 2017, IRIS was born and seven years on the brand proudly designs and develops all of the products themselves, and in fact this work is still done solely by the founder. IRIS do things this way so that the team has complete control over the materials, the fit and the design and can create items that don’t compromise on performance or style.
What area of the market do you target? Bold, fearless and colourful, IRIS is for anybody and everybody that wants to express their own personality on the bike and most importantly have fun with every ride. Some of our products address the specific needs of female cyclists such as bib shorts and tights which feature a magnetic closure system for quick and easy pee stops, and silicon gripper to keep shorts in place without squashing or squeezing your thighs, because no one wants sausage legs.
What makes the products unique? There are a few things that we think differentiate us and our products from other cycling apparel brands out there. We are women led. Designed by women for women and with only women working in the company. Our products are instantly recognisable. Our trademark style is unique and you can always tell an IRIS item apart from other brands.
As a brand we choose to invest in creative photoshoots which we regard as part of the design process. We have found that this really makes our products stand out from other brands, who we see more and more taking “inspiration” from our shoots. We have complete control over the design and development process which means that we are able to create the product that we feel best suits the wants, needs and desires of our community from whom we regularly receive feedback. The suppliers we work with are committed to sustainable practices and materials, as are we. This is ensured by using Oeko-Tex certified fabrics, a process that certifies sustainability and safety standards in raw fabrics. We also use Bluesign certified fabrics, which traces each
textile’s path along the manufacturing process, making improvements at every stage from factory floor to finished product. Additionally some of our products are made using recycled polyester and we use paper packing for our shipping. We are committed to a no overproduction policy to ensure
every item finds a happy owner. We produce around 1,500 items a year opting to create limited collections principally for spring/summer and autumn/winter alongside specific collaboration projects. Every new collection is created with those that have gone before it in mind, so that new items can be remixed with products from previous collections. We actively choose materials that we are confident will last and we also design for ease of repair offering a lifetime repair guarantee on all IRIS products.
Alongside this we source leftover deadstock material for our Revamp range to once again minimise waste and also fuel our creativity. We want to create long-term sustainable change in the world of cycling from grassroots through to the
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