Bike Beautiful with Women’s Bicycle Clothing Brand Iladora

“Iladora goes beyond biking,” explained Meghan Murphy and Ilana Siegelman, the two founders of the San Francisco-based women’s fashion brand. “We want to make durable, fashionable clothing that women can feel good in and is performance ready.” Iladora is exploring the terrain of women’s biking apparel by creating garments that are sustainably produced, impeccably designed, and fashionable both on and off your bike.

Murphy and Siegelman are long time bicycle commuters and were all too familiar with ruining clothing from their high-performance lifestyles. “This has been going on for years now,” exclaimed Siegelman. “We were noticing that everything on the market was either really expensive or really performance wear looking and the availability for women just wasn’t there.” The two decided to combine their skills – Siegelman an experienced apparel designer and Murphy a skilled community-based marketing strategist – to tackle making the perfect bike pant. Using the crowd-funding website IndieGoGo, Iladora was able to raise over $15,000 that allowed them to purchase the fabric and materials they needed to start producing the Perfect Bike Pant.

To find the best fabric for Iladora’s Bike Pant, Murphy and Siegelman had certain criteria that had to be met: durability, sustainability, quality, texture, weight, and performance ready. They decided on a bluesign certified material that had 4-way stretch, water-repellency, and extreme durability. All production is done in San Francisco using techniques like marker efficiency, a method of pattern-making that ensures that you are not discarding any unnecessary material when cutting the fabric in order to stay true to their eco-focused design.

“People are becoming more conscious about throwaway fashion and want products that are well made, from local communities,” explained Murphy and Siegelman. Now that Iladora’s Perfect Bike Pant is available online and at stores in San Francisco, Chicago, and Portland, Iladora has expanded their line with two new staples for women’s wardrobes. In March, Iladora launched their Spring 2014 lookbook that includes The Mindy Skirt made from the same durable fabric as the Perfect Bike Pant and The Lisa Top, which is made from a natural bamboo/ cotton blend.

“Women designing for women is pretty amazing,” said the two founders. Murphy and Siegelman are both excited to continue designing and producing clothing for women that aren’t afraid to break a sweat or “bike beautiful.”

iladora.com