How do you turn Van Gogh's archives into a cycling jersey?
Uncover one point in time and let it be the canvas for the story
Rapha X Van Gogh
A collection of cycling apparel featuring the Van Gogh museum's collection.
With access to the entire archive, the challenge was focus. Vincent's time in Arles and the Yellow House provided a hero colour for the collection and a natural link to the Tour de France's yellow jersey and iconic sunflowers.
Cropping into work from this period provided texture and colour, while sketches and writing from Vincent's letters added a layer of storytelling and a human mystery.
A torn visual treatment evokes the act of revealing and restoring history, transforming a vast archive into a single, coherent narrative.
Graphic Fragments
Vincent’s letters revealed a collection of overlooked details; handwritten signatures, postal stamps, incidental sketches. Extracted and recontextualised, these elements became contemporary graphic icons, rich with history and personal meaning.
The yellow house was a place where Vincent could invite other artists to paint together and inspire each other - a spirit of community shared with Amsterdam's Rapha Clubhouse.
