The Making of the Sun Kissed Collection
The Sun Kissed Collection is more than just "some cycling bags". This project is a reflection of three years working towards a refined intentional designed Top Tube Bag and tackling the explanation of its meaning to the current consumer cyclist.
Yes... Our Top Tube bag has been the main focus for over 1000 days... Why? because I really do love this bag and believe when you master something, people feel the final creation differently :)
Mad Monkey started in 2023 after we took a modern day pilgrimage down the Baja Divide. In many ways this was the initiation into the beautiful world of bespoke cycling. In others it allowed me to clear my mind and prepared me to focus deeply on the intentional design.
In that solitude I began to ask deeper questions regarding cycling bags and what the current bags on the market were missing. What needed to become of a perfect Top Tube bag? How can you make a bag that alludes to the riders' senses? Can a cycling bag manifest emotions, memories, and curiosity? Will modern consumers even understand this in a fast fashion climate? Does any of it matter?
I have always been fascinated by our definition of quality items. This has drastically changed as I looked through the different lenses of the social economic status we experience through life. It really did seem that certain things were just collectively agreed on to be quality. After 30 years on earth, I never stopped and question who was actually creating these items, because it was just so easy to be blinded by the veil of branding and generational built house names. The formative years of swiping my card and being done with it was definitely a fault I wanted to learn from.
So, to do things a little differently, we go to the source. Our fabrics are found by directly visiting the regions in which they are created. This allows me to meet the makers and really put hands on what it takes to make a quality item. Whether that be deep down the Baja Peninsula, far off continents like Africa, southeast Asia or South America. We gather these fabrics in a way that pays homage to their culture and the creators. In doing this, the initial fabric has a story, there is feeling, and a depth integrated into each piece far beyond the typical bag makers approach.
The Sun Kissed collection was a step into a new horizon for Mad Monkey. We have become known for our dramatic stylization of cycling bags, and until this point I had been religiously creating 1 of 1 bags, with no intention to change that. The idea of a handmade collection featuring multiple similar bags seemed crazy at the time. Knowing the time involved in creating 1 bag, to conceptualize creating 15 back to back... definitely out of the picture.
It wasn't until I met Freddie in Loreto, Baja California Sur and he gave me a tour of his 2nd generation blanket shop known as The Blanket Factory, That's when it all changed.
After talking to Freddie and telling him about our creation story, he mentioned how using some of his blankets to create a collection of bags would really allow other cyclists to get a feeling of life on the Baja. "You have to weave in the soul of mexico into the blankets, that's how my dad did it and how we continue to do it today" said Freddie. We talked about the feeling of the Baja sun, its power and how differently it feels compared to anywhere in the world.
I mention the different artisanal blanket designs I had been seeing around Baja. These were different from the traditional Mexican blankets that usually come to mind sold in the USA. He told me "We are designing a modern day blanket, one that is soft on the eyes and the soul, a blanket that looks luxurious and maintains the quality we are known for".
These newly designed blankets feature a minimal color palette and tones selected from colors experienced in the Mexican desert scape.
I asked Freddie if he happened to have any blankets that were damaged or anything he would not be able to sell to the general tourist. He pointed to the blankets on display. "These are my displays, I have to rotate the blankets every 6 months because the direct sun is so strong it fades the colors over time. Tourist want a pristine blanket so I always get them a fresh one from the back" said Freddie. A smile came over me, because at that moment I knew the Sun Kissed collection had manifested ;)
In closing, this was my way of giving voice to the unseen, and allowing other artists to truly shine in a subculture that is much deeper than fast fashion/consumer based cycling built on mass production.
We do not wholesale anything, it is bought at a fair market price. I think this is hardest part about the process, trying to explain to a cyclist why the bag cost as much as it does. Simply put, Mad Monkey pays everyone involved in the process fairly, and that's including myself. With all things considered Mad Monkey bags will continue to rise in price until I feel everyone is paid equally.
If you are reading this and own one of the 15 Sun Kissed bags, welcome to the family 🙉🙊🙈
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