Ed Bartlett, Founder of Kostüme / Cycling Apparel

In this episode of the Menswear Style Podcast, we speak with Ed Bartlett, founder of Kostüme (https://kostume.cc/) , the British cycling apparel brand taking a radically different approach to technical clothing, sustainability, creativity and the traditional fashion cycle. Ed’s route into cycling apparel is anything but conventional. An entrepreneur for more than two decades, he began his career in the creative industries before spending 15 years in the video game world, where he founded one of the first businesses to integrate real-world brands into video games. He later moved into the art world, working with artists and producing exhibitions, before another personal passion ultimately led him towards cycling. A keen long-distance cyclist, Ed began riding extraordinary distances — sometimes 300 kilometres in a single day — and quickly discovered the shortcomings of conventional cycling apparel. Hours spent in the saddle gave him plenty of time to think about everything from fit and fabrics to why the cycling industry seemed so heavily focused on racing, heritage and suffering. The result was Kostüme. Ed explains how the brand aims to create the best possible cycling apparel by combining high-performance materials, obsessive attention to detail, sustainability and an entirely different approach to production. Rather than manufacturing huge quantities and hoping they sell, Kostüme works primarily through limited-edition pre-order batches known as “Edits”, producing w