Rapha release environmentally conscious Excess collection from surplus materials

The Excess collection from Rapha is the brand's latest sustainability move to try and reduce waste and minimise its environmental footprint. Due to the nature of the clothing industry reducing waste to a complete zero is impossible however that hasn’t stopped Rapha from looking at how they can do better.

© Rapha

The collection has a distinct look and is a great solution to one of the biggest issues facing the clothing industry

Rapha attributes three main issues faced as a brand that creates waste and surplus clothing, product amendments, cancellations and minimum order quantities. The issue for brands such as Rapha is that they have a fairly small customer base when compared to some high-street clothing behemoths, especially on the global market. This can quite often lead to them having to order more than they typically want from suppliers.

Read more: Rapha to team up with Evans Cycles as high street stockist of selected ranges

This is where the new range of excess kit comes in. All items within the Excess range use some level of surplus material from elsewhere in the business' production line. Rapha has gone so far as to say, ‘Our goal is to minimise excess to a point where we do not have enough to make a collection, but rather introduce it as standard practice when we can. We’re working towards long-term solutions for surplus, not just a quick fix for today.’

© Rapha

The kit all use surplus material that is unavoidable due to amendments, cancellations and large minimum order quantities

Not only will the new collection be offered to consumers but for 2024 the professional peloton will be getting the Excess treatment too with EF Education-EasyPost set to use Excess bib shorts uppers as standard.

Rapha have also made the smart choice to make all of the repair patches for their mountain bike range of garments from surplus material in a further attempt to reduce waste. The brand has also announced that they will be offering a limited run of the athlete collection made entirely out of excess material later in the season.

To check out more on this environmentally savvy solution to cycle clothing surplus head over to Rapha where you can see more of the collection and register your interest for the athlete collection too.