tokyobike has collaborated with three leading designers - Everything Elevated, Nick and Rachel Cope of Calico Wallpaper, and Joe Doucet - on three limited-edition bicycles. Each designer has created a distinct take on tokyobike, reflecting the respective designer's approach and aesthetic and resulting in one-of-a-kind modes of transport.
Nick and Rachel Cope, the husband and wife co-founders of Brooklyn-based Calico Wallpaper, bring their award-winning design approach to tokyobikes. Using the same methods that have garnered a place in the Cooper Hewitt's Wallcoverings collection and an Architizer A+ Award, the Copes translated Calico Wallpaper's signature Aurora wallpaper onto a tokyobike, elevating the piece into an art form.
The unique ombre finish reflects the endless variation in the cycle of dawn and dusk. The elegant components chosen for this special frame are reminiscent of French porteur bikes of the 1930's-bicycles that were comfortable and utilitarian, meant to be ridden all day.
Joe Doucet, an award-winning designer, entrepreneur, inventor, and creative director based in Brooklyn, creates work that deftly hybridizes function and visual appeal while conveying layers of meaning and message. In May 2017, Doucet received the 2017 Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Product Design.
Doucet's tokyobike design reflects an elegant solution for the indecisive cyclist: a bike that is one color (grey) when viewed from the right and another (white) when viewed from the left. To match the duality of the frame, the contact points of the bicycle are also split: the grips and saddle are handmade in Italy, half organic canvas, half vulcanized rubber. The flat handlebar is consistent with the crisp line between the two colors of the finish.
Everything Elevated uses design as a tool to communicate the essence of ideas, materials and stories for brand differentiation. For their tokyobike design, Everything Elevated designed a bike that has undergone a special chemical passivation process that strengthens the metal and gives it a unique chromated color pattern (a process that the designers have previously applied to other signature products).
The sleek lines of the Japanese-made handlebar and stem flow together, and do not distract from the beauty of the finish. The deep drop of the handlebars pays homage to the very first minimalist bikes designed to race on a track.
The designs are available in a limited edition for custom order, on view at tokyobike's Nolita flagship store and online.