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Rapha jersey designed by Sir Paul Smith on sale on eBay ... for £10,000Rapha x Paul Smith London 2007 Tour de France Grand Depart jersey.jpg

Rapha jersey designed by Sir Paul Smith on sale on eBay ... for £10,000

Limited edition garment was produced to commemorate Tour de France London Grand Depart in 2007
by Simon_MacMichael
Tue, Mar 28, 2017 15:15
12

A limited edition jersey designed for Rapha by Sir Paul Smith to commemorate the London Grand Depart of the 2007 Tour de France is on sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of £10,000.

Retailing for £175 when it went on sale in the run-up to the Grand Depart a decade ago, the dark green Sportwool jersey has embroidered features including the Union Flag crossed with a French Tricoleur, as well as the route of Stage 1 of the race from London to Canterbury the day after the opening Prologue in the capital.

The seller, eBay user 19joe80, describes it as "the mother of all cycling jerseys" and "a piece of cycling history," and adds that the garment, size medium and complete with original tags, "has been stored in an airtight bag in the dark since it was purchased."

15 per cent of the proceeds of the sale will be donated to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - although given the Sportwool composite fabric the jersey is made out of contains natural Merino wool, some might see it as out of keeping with the charity's ethos, with its slogan stating "animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way."

The jersey still has a special place in the affections of the Nottingham-born designer, who as a teenager harboured dreams of becoming a professional cyclist, and last year posted a picture of it to Instagram.

In 2013, it also featured in a retrospective of his work at the Design Museum in London.

 

Rapha
Paul Smith
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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12 comments

Avatar
boringbutton | 7 years ago
5 likes

Literally made an account to post that Rapha wool is free from abuse. Other hanlf and I were mortified to read about these practices and we are both veggie / semi vegan...

I really do like Rapha as a company

Source below:

New Zealand Merino: Merino wool is a staple of many Rapha products. A luxurious and versatile natural fibre, the merino wool used in Rapha products is ethically sourced and certified ‘non-mulesed’ – and can even be traced back to the farms in New Zealand where it was produced.

http://pages.rapha.cc/stories/mens-road-2015

Avatar
peted76 | 7 years ago
1 like

This'll go great with my new mavic magic slippers !

Avatar
Leviathan | 7 years ago
1 like

I'll watch it in case he knocks a fiver off it.

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alansmurphy | 7 years ago
0 likes

Does it matter what it is on for if it doesn't sell. I could state my house is a £30m mansion and list it when it's probably worth only half of that 3

Avatar
tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
0 likes

Oh God.. wish I didn't look Mulesing up. Fucking awful:

http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/wool-industry/mules...

 

I couldn't finish this.. gave up at the chunks of flesh being torn off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObDulDpR22k

 

Really going to give this whole merino wool thing some thought. Really loved my merino base layers from Icebreaker, but maybe won't buy another again. 

 

Messaged the seller of this and told him I'd take it from him for 120 quid, then I'd sell if for 15 large and give him 12.5k, more than he'd get if he sold for 10 grand on eBay.

//s23.postimg.org/qcpm7q1zv/Screen_Shot_2017-03-28_at_16.41.33.png)

 

Think he'll go for it? 

 

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet | 7 years ago
6 likes

Shear lunacy.

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1961BikiE | 7 years ago
0 likes

Yes, ok. I didn't realise they represented the vegan end of the spectrum. I apologize. I thought it supported animal husbandry in a sympathetic manner, so opposed to factory type farming methods. I stand corrected.

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Grahamd | 7 years ago
5 likes

Wrong size for me, so I'm out.

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1961BikiE | 7 years ago
1 like

Not sure why merino wool clashes with the ethical treatment of animals? Perhaps you know something about merino sheep husbandry that isn't common knowledge? Or do I not understand the stance of this charity. I'll Google it.

Anyway, really wish I had bought one now back then! I'd even have been willing to donate 10% to a charity if I could get £10k for the jersey. Oh the tears are flowing.

Avatar
Man of Lard replied to 1961BikiE | 7 years ago
1 like
1961BikiE wrote:

Not sure why merino wool clashes with the ethical treatment of animals? Perhaps you know something about merino sheep husbandry that isn't common knowledge?

Mulesing - common practice in Australia (where over half the world's merino comes from) to reduce the incidence of flystrike.

Neither mulesing nor flystrike are anything I'd like to have happen to me... 

Avatar
Simon E replied to Man of Lard | 7 years ago
0 likes
Man of Lard wrote:

Mulesing - common practice in Australia (where over half the world's merino comes from) to reduce the incidence of flystrike.

Peta's page about mulesing, using typically emotive language, describes it as:  so-called "flystrike".

While mulesing may unethical, I don't think any sheep farmer would dismiss flystrike that way. The practice of mulesing is being phased out in NZ and Australia. Organic farmers have to use other treatments - usually topical - so there must be a subequent withdrawal period, whether for wool or meat.

Avatar
Huw Watkins replied to Simon E | 7 years ago
1 like
Simon E wrote:

Peta's page about mulesing, using typically emotive language, describes it as:  so-called "flystrike".

 

Flystrike is awful; I've seen lambs eaten from the inside out by maggots. That said, mulesing is barbaric

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