 Robert Capa and Leica - Feb 15 The first photographic images of war date back to the 1850's. Yet it was not until the 1930's, with new camera technology , that images of people in battle, not standing still, could be taken.
The highly portable, 35mm German made Leica was revolutionary. Photographers such as the Hungarian born Robert Capa used their Leica and risked their lives to record the tragedy of war.
Capa landed onn Omaha beach with the Americans on June 6 1944. He took 108 images that day but a mishap in the lab darkroom meant only 8 pictures remained. One of the lab assistants was rumoured to be Larry Burrows who went on to be one of the greatest photographers in Vietnam.
Capa was killed by a landmine. Burrow's helicopter was shot down in Vietnam.
The image here is Capa in US paratrooper gear with the English photographer George Rodger.
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 Magnificent Men & Their Cycling Machines - Feb 9thOur painted cycling figures do get around.....just been spotted on the latest television commercial for Boots No 7......the one with the girl tidying up the flat
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 World Champion - Jan 24th 2012The winner of a cycling world title gets to wear the highly coveted Rainbow jersey. It can be worn in the relevant type of competition, until the next world champion wins the following year. World champions are allowed to wear championship trims of the rainbow colours from previous championship wins on their racing clothing
The rainbow colours of the UCI and the world champion are the same as the Olympic rings.
The tradition of wearing the jersey applies to the all disciplines - the road, track, cyclo-cross and now bmx.
Is there such a thing as the curse of the Champion's jersey.....Tom Simpson won the title in 1965 but then injured his leg skiing. Freddy Martens after winning in 1981, only won a further two pro races in the rest of his career. Stephen Roche won in 1987, then missed the next season with injury. Yet the curse did not apply to Merckx, the Badger or LeMond. |
 Hello Brooklyn, what's your story?The latest in our hand painted limited edition cycling figures have just landed. Painted by hand with a fine hair brush and a magnifying glass, no stickers or stencils.
A true favourite team of ours from the 1970's. Roger de Vlaeminck was the best-known team member. He was a great classics rider and won Paris-Roubaix four times The blue Captain America stripes matched the colour of the Gios bikes with campagnolo all the way.
The main sponsor of the team was Brooklyn, an Italian chewing gum brand dating back to the 50's, actually manufactured in Italy and not generally available in the US. The Italian company just liked the name and the image of the Brooklyn Bridge. For them their goal was always to win the Giro. By the early 80's the team was no more.....but you can still get the chewing gum.
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 Hop Up - Jan 8th 2012Isn't it great that with the rise of the internet and the web in our lives that print is still important. Nothing like getting your hands on a good, under the radar publication.
We have imported from the USA some Hop Up Magazines and their T-Shirts.....because we we like them.
The first edition of Hop Up magazine came out in 1951. It sold out. It was designed as a smaller size to fit into the glove compartment of a car or pocket. Still a publication on all things to do with building, racing and enjoying a custom, hot rod car.
If you are a car nut or not they are great publications, not generally available in the UK and getting more collectable. If your bag is So Cal Model A's, 40's style roadsters or tales of Bonneville then this is the mag for you.
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 Captain Cousteau - Jan 8th 2012Is Jacques Cousteau is the only diver that people could name?
He was a commando, a French naval officer, explorer, scientist, author and film maker.
1950, he sailed his own ship Calypso, a mobile laboratory for field research, for diving and filming. He co-developed the aqua-lung.He published his first book in 1953, the Silent World.(He went on to publish more than 50 books)
In 1956 he won the Palm d'Or at Cannes.
IWC named a watch after him.
He founded the Cousteau Society for the Protection of Ocean Life (now has more than 300,000 members).
Jacques-Yves Cousteau died on 25 June 1997 in Paris, aged 87.
He sure led a full life.
And he was name checked by the Wu Tang "Here I go, deep type flow.
Jacques Cousteau could never get this low."
All round legend. |
 Flying With Renault - Jan 4th 2012''I knew where I had landed by signing for Renault. This was a turning point in my story, which was flying high, in club class......living the dream that forms in the minds of all French cyclists when they embark on their careers.....when you rode in the colours of Renault , owned by the State and often just known as La Regie - the company.
I am not sure that today people are still aware of precisely how much Renault had come to mean back then....part of the flesh and blood of French life''.
Extract from the book Lauren Fignon, When We Were Young And Carefree.
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 Cyclone Couriers - Jan 3rd 2012We recently worked on a project with Bagaboo to produce custom messenger bags for the company Cylone Couriers of Dublin. Bagaboo did a great job in making the bags to Cyclone's design with custom screen printing of their corporate identity.
Cyclone originated in 1988 as a three-man pushbike courier company offering rapid collection and delivery of packages to businesses in and around traffic congested Dublin .Cyclone has grown in size over the last 20 years. Bike couriers are still a core part of their many courier services.
Look out for the bags on the streets of Dublin.
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 Jet Pilot Overseas - Jan 3rd 2012A blog that we do not know that much about is 'Jet Pilot Overseas'. It's one of the great things about the internet that people will share their collections like this. It really is a great job.
What we do know is that we spend far too much of our own time time looking at the awesome collections of images that are gathered there. Its a blog dedicated to USAF pilots and test pilots, their flight gear and jackets, focusing mainly on the years 1946 through to 1969.
The image featured here is from their collection.
Astronauts David R. Scott (32nd TFS), Sernan and Chaffee, Training in Iceland, 1965. |
 Happy Holidays - Dec 23rd 2011A book that we recently picked up and have been very much enjoying is 'Lifestyyle Illustration of the 60's' edited by Rian Hughes. Packed full of colour illustrations from a golden age. A lot of the stuff was not for cool magazines, it was for the likes of Woman's Journal etc but there are some great artists at work here . From a time where ' the men are urbane and angular clotheshorses, the women kittenish and sultry....."
Ww love this Christmas scene from Woman's Own 1960 by Tom Lovell.
Happy Holidays ! |
 Merry Christmas - Dec 18th 2011Do you ever save images, then can't remember where they came from or what they are about?
This is what happened with this one.
On the sign these guys have made to the left of the image - it says Merry Christmas, then there is a camel and a bike, what more could you want?
Its perfect for this time of year to say MERRY CHRISTMAS. |
 Favourite Colours - Molteni - 6th Dec 2012Perhaps our favourite team colours of all time have to be Team Molteni, when Eddy Merckx was the leader. The team was founded in the 1950's, the Molteni sausage making company from Italy were the main sponsors. Merckx joined in 1970, having already won the Tour de France twice. It became a team of mostly Belgian riders, no bad thing.
Here is the second of our limited edition series of hand painted cyling figures, remembering those glory days.
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 Bicicielo Birmingham - 18th Nov 2011Recently paid a visit to the new Bicicielo bike store in Birmingham city centre, below Loius Vuitton. It's been open a few months now and looks great. Lots of space, good coffee, gleaming Pinarellos, friendly staff including Steve Jones, one time pro rider who rode all the major one day classics. The main man is Andy Collis, a talented road and MTB racer.
Bicicielo are now stockists of selected Urban Hunter t-shirts including the Love Cols, Helvetica and Tom Simpson designs. They also have our hand painted peloton figures. Do go and say hello, it really is bike heaven.
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 A Bike Is For Life, Not Just For Christmas - 15th Nov 2011Lots of discussion going on about the use of the Smith's song for the John Lewis Christmas Ad. Certainly means the festivities are on the way.
We have our Christmas T-Shirt.....far better than novelty socks. Who can this be with the false beard......the Campionissimo......the Santa-issimo ? It's Christmas Coppi. The Italian master, one of the most stylish champions in the history of the sport. He was the Giro d'Italia winner five times and he took the Tour de France twice. T-Shirts are hand printed, with soft to the touch, eco friendly inks. A far better gift than novelty socks. |
 Steve Jobs & Cinelli - 14th Nov 2011Words of the the CEO of the century
"What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool we have ever come up with. It's the equivalent of the bicycle for our minds".
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 Squadron Patches 28th Oct 2011Do you ever tell people you are not a collector….then you look at all your stuff and realise you have a collection. This has happened to us with military clothing and squadron patches.
Without doubt the US Army & Navy always had the best. Shoulder insignia started to appear as far back as 1918 with the Wildcat badge worn by the 81st Division. Everyone wore the same uniform but individual patches were worn to distinguish units and squadrons. The patches came to tell a story, or represent deeds or bravery. Cartoon characters became common. The further away from headquarters the more extravagant the design. Many were not authorised but still worn, Could you imagine that happening now ?The golden age of patches was the Second World War up to Vietnam. By 1966 the US Army insisted subdued colours must be used and everything was controlled much more.
We have obtained some exact replicas of the original squadron patches created by the US Army and Navy. These are just as the originals were from WWII.They are cut, sewn and embroidered by one person, by hand, with needle and yarn, on to a melton wool backing. They look great applied to jackets and bags. Crafted for Urban Hunter by Eastman Leather of England. Available here
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 Amundsen - 27th Oct 2011We thought we would get in early with a piece about one of our heroes. His name is used to promote many products, especially winter coats, but who was Roald Amundsen?
He was born in Norway in 1872. As a boy he would sleep outside to learn how to withstand the cold. He led the first ever expedition to reach the South Pole between 1910 and 1912. He became the first person to reach both the South and North Poles. One of the most succesful Polar explorers ever.He learned about Polar survival when he lived with the Inuits and Eskimos before his expedition.He was taught about dog sledges, how to hunt and prepare food. He wore animal skins instead of the traditional heavy, wool parkas. Preparation and the local knowledge he learned was the key to his survival, others failed and lost their lives.
In 1926, Amundsen and an Italian crew made the first crossing of the Arctic by airship. Amundsen and his plane disappeared on 18 June 1928 while on a rescue mission seraching for survivors of an airship crash.On December 14,
later this year , it will be 100 years since Amundsen touched the South Pole. |
 Chew the Right Thing - 27th Oct 2011Here is a jersey from our own collection. A true favourite team of ours from the 1970's. Roger de Vlaeminck was the best-known rider. His brother was pretty special on the bike too. Roger was a great classics rider and won Paris-Roubaix four times....we was referred to as 'Monsieur Paris-Roibaix'. He would have won a lot more races if his main rival of this period had not been a rider called Eddy Merckx.We always loved the stripes of the shirt....in the style of Captain America. The blue above matched the colour of the Gios bikes with campagnolo all the way.
The main sponsor of the team was Brooklyn, an Italian chewing gum brand dating back to the 50's, actually manufactured in Italy and not generally available in the US. The Italian company just liked the name and the image of the Brooklyn Bridge. For them their goal was always to win the Giro. By the early 80's the team was no more.....but you can still get the chewing gum.
Remember without Brooklyn gum, Spike Lee would never have worn a cycling cap with such style.
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 Heritage Research - 19th Oct 2011One of our new brands for Winter 2011 is Heritage Research. What they have been up to has been on our personal radar for a while after first seeing it being sold in Japan. It's a well liked, now established and popular brand in the UK, for good reason.
We share many of the influences of Heritage Research ; a love of the outdoors, hot rods, the American civil war, sun and surf, military clothing, Nam, garments crafted with pride.....somehow they manage to weave all ot this together and produce garments that are influenced by the past yet are contemporary, especially in the fit, in a very good way. They love US history but manage to combine this with all that is good about England. Heritage Research are just making in roads into the US market and are already in some of the best stores.....for good reason. It's like how Mr Ralph Lauren understands what is England more than the English.Then they are also crafting most of the garments in England, that itself is not easy these day. for that alone they deserve a medal. We already have some of their outerwear, sweats and t-shirts in stock. We love their stuff.
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 Ethnotek Bags - 13th Oct 2011We have found yet another awesome bag collection and we are their first UK stockist. It's from a small company called Ethnotek. Their first bag is a backpack. The genius aspect is that the front panel can be changed for a series of designs they call 'Threads'.
The first collection includes 'Threads' from Ghana, Vietnam and Guatemala.
The Ethnotek team scour the earth in search of the most vibrant and interesting hand-made fabrics that have a deep cultural heritage and story behind them. Each and every handmade piece that goes into their Threads collection is sourced in-person.
All bags are limited editions. Most of the Thread styles have only 50-60 pieces total available worldwide and once they're gone, they're gone. Never to be repeated! It typically takes a family 2-3 months to hand-dye and weave only 25 yards of intricate textiles featured on the bags. The backpacks are well designed for modern life and a laptop compartment is featured as standard. |
 Topo Bags from Colorado - Oct 11th 2011We are a little obsessed with bags. We have seen , owned and used many. One of our new brands is Topo from Colorado and we have to say it is one of the most exciting bag ranges we have seen for a very long time. They are not super expensive. In terms of design, form and function they are just right. Their latest design, their one strap Sling Bag, defies categorisation, we describe it as a hybrid between a messenger bag and a backpack. Whatever, it works and makes for a great camera bag.
Topo tell us "Growing up in the mountains of the West we’ve been using gear from our earliest memories. We are fishers, hunters, ski instructors, hikers, climbers, bikers, travelers, and through it all we’ve searched for gear that really works – as well as satisfies the styles that we’re attracted to. Never satisfied with the standard fare, we sought out ski gear from France, bags from Japan, all the while honing our tastes and growing a seed of desire to create something ourselves.
Topo began well before it began, in discussions, sharing ideas, and just the desire to have quality products that were in our heads rather than the ones we saw in stores. As everyone that’s made something knows, it takes a lot longer to make something than to decide to make it. So we took our time, made prototype after prototype, tested, re-tested, took vacations just as an excuse to test, and we finally had our first bag. At this point we’d gained some skills and the following bags came more quickly. After some initial success in Japan we realized we’d need to step up our production a bit so we started working with a local production shop known for making quality bags. And that brings us to today, designing, sewing, prototyping, and moving forward". Topo bags are all made in Colorado USA, with an amazing view of the Rockies. |
 Otter Wax from Portland Oregon - Oct 2011We are pretty excited about the Otter Wax range of products that have landed here at Urban Hunter. We are the first UK stockist. We have been experimenting all day thinking what other items we can wax and make water repellent. So far we have done the fronts of a pair of jeans, a canvas backpack and an old pair of Vans.
Several years ago the founder of Otter Wax™ (we’ll call him…Chris) found an old tin cloth raincoat that needed a fresh coat of wax to restore it’s water repellency. After purchasing tin after tin of fabric and canvas wax he always found himself disappointed by the end results which left the coat oily to the touch, shiny, and smelling of petroleum. A little research showed that all of the waxes he’d tried tried were made from a base of paraffin, a petroleum by-product of the crude oil refining process. This started a long search for an all-natural alternative to the parafin-based canvas waxes.Beginning in his kitchen, Chris set about the formulation of an all-natural alternative to waxing fabrics with petroleum-based products. Otter Wax was born. |
 Capo You have no cause to worry that we are moving away from our hard core cyclists. One of our new brands is Capo. Its performance roadwear, Its still under the radar , less than a deacde old, but its special.The fabrics they use are insane, in a very good way. Its designed in California, then all of the garments are manufactured in Italy, with the attention to detail and quality that only the Italians can add. Ever been on a Sunday ride with an Italian, they always look good. |
 Work in Progress We are working on a series of limited edition cycling figures. As great as our regular peloton figures are, these limited edition designs take them to another level. These are the colours of the Peugeot team as worn by Tom Simspson and Eddy Merckx. They have been hand painted with the finest of hair brushes. So the detail, including the wording you see, is not achieved by transfer or stencil. It's done by a local artist in Brighton with a brush and a free hand. Should be ready first week of October 2011.
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 Peloton Magazine Issue 6Our hand painted cycling figures are featured in the current issue of Peloton magazine. It comes out of Pasedena Califorina. A good read, pick it up if you can.
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 Archival Clothing from Portland OregonOne of the brands making a debut on our new site is Archival Clothing from Portland in Oregon. They are a small team behind one of our favourite blogs that has now evolved in into their own small range of clothing and accessories. They love hand crafted manufacturing as we do. We already have some of their wax cotton musettes and bags in our webstore and will be adding more of their products over the coming months. |
 Favourite Jersey ?
Here at Urban Hunter towers we have quite a collection. We have to edit it from time to time. Yet we can't resist buying more...the older the better for us. They evoke such memories of times and races gone by, the emergence of branding and how it developed to what it is today.
This is one of our faves. We love the front pocket detail and the quality of the chain stitch. Very difficult to get anyone to do chain stitch these days.
Mercier was a French professional cycling team, a major player in the sport for almost half a century. Their jerseys were originally all purple , then from 1950 until 1969 they sported the distinctive purple and yellow combination.
Cycles Mercier was the original main sponsor. When other sponsors came onboard the team was called Mercier-BP-Hutchinson. Their riders included Antonin Magne and Louison Bobet. The team won the Tour de France in 1937 and 1955. Raymond Poulidor wore the purple and yellow when he rode
elbow to elbow on the Puy-de-Dôme mountain against Jacques Anquetil.
We often wonder if this jersey ever had a podium place?
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 New Webstore - Sept 2011 Well the new store is now online. Lots more new things to come over the next few weeks, including a brands page. Thanks so much for all the positive responses received so far, it makes what we do very worthwhile. We resisted a blog for a long time...is not blogging the new blogging? We started Facebook last December, we've had a very positive repsonse so it's now blog time. You will have seen from the new store that we have made some changes to the brands and items we sell. Don't worry we are still cyclists to the core, it's just 4 years on it was time to do something different. We like to be ahead of the curve as it were. With pretty much every clothes shop having a bike in the window....what is that about i? It was time to move on. We liken what has happened to cycling as the same for skateboarding. The big corporations will want to get in on the act while they can but then they will move away. The core people remain and carry on doing what they are doing. Cycling is the same. Some of our favourite brands from days gone by morph into something else but their foundation and reason for starting how they did remains. Stussy was a surfer. Supreme were skaters. A big thanks to the brands that worked with us from the start. And no thanks to the brands who laughed at what we were doing when we started...but are now knocking on our door.....you know who you are! We have lots of new things to come including new brands such as Patagonia (very excited about this), Katin, Arc'teryxc Veilance, Archival Clothing, Capo and Heritage Research. As ever.....ride safe. Team Urban Hunter |
