We are offering some exceptional footwear this fall from local shoe designer, Martha Davis. Normally Martha Davis’s shoes are found in upscale shoe stores, like Gimme Shoes in San Francisco, and other chic boutiques around the world, not bike stores. But we think her shoes and our bikes go especially well together – structured yet sexy, functional but fun.

They have a lace up back seam detail, leather sole, and 2″ wood heel. Bench made in Italy. You can actually wear heels, pumps, boots, or any type of shoes on our bikes. If you’re going to a dressy event in the city for example, it often means you do not want to walk down into a subway or to scuff your heels walking. So ride a bike in style with these Martha Davis gold low lace boots.

The fashion side of biking gains attention every year, driven mostly by mainstream media. Two prime examples are the recent articles in The New York Times, “Bicycle Chic Gains Speed,” and in The Wall Street Journal, “The Season of Biker Chic,” both placed in the style section. In new media, bike fashion has become a common theme for the increasing number of blogs, take for example, Velo Vogue, Velo Chic NYC, Copenhagen Cycle Chic, and Riding Pretty just to name a few. Even solely fashion driven blogs, such as the Sartorialist, started to include a biking category. Curiously, the bike industry itself has been a laggard in responding to this dimension of biking, still consumed with the logo and lycra side of biking. But times are changing. At the Interbike trade show in Las Vegas last month, there was a cool fashion show that that went all the way down to bike lingerie and guys taking their pants off.

Interbike is mostly a guy thing. We don’t have the attendance statistics, but anyone who goes can attest that women are a minority as exhibitors and attendees. As a result Interbike is, well, lacking in visual and fashion appeal in the same way that a male-dominated automotive, golf, or hunting exposition might be. But this year each afternoon Interbike hosted the 2010 Ready to Ride Fashion Show, well choreographed by Momentum Magazine and our Pedal Savvy friends, with a fast paced circular runaway of models cruising around on bikes.

We are not fashion critics at PUBLIC, in fact quite the opposite. We think that anything goes on bikes and our PUBLIC bikes are especially designed for everyday wear. And we’re not exactly sure how bike lingerie from Movmoda really functions for the everyday bicyclist, but we like to see boundaries being pushed. We loved the variety of color and pattern, and the fact that the show included a full range of accessories, complete outfits, and great attention to detail. Kudos to Momentum.

The fashion show is another example of women leading the industry in new directions. But it is a sea of change culturally. I was asked recently by the Daily Beast to write up what I considered to be the leading innovations in the industry. What I came up with was “more women riders.” Here is a sampling of the show. We’re all working together with new media to make sure that what happens in Vegas does not always stay in Vegas.

Papergirl SF Hits The Streets With Art

PUBLIC was pleased to support Papergirl SF. Papergirl, as self-described, is a “mail-art and delivery systems art project that is participatory, analogue, non-commercial, and impulsive. ” We love seeing the way in which art creates community, fun, and connects to our mission about getting more people on bicycles. This past Sunday our PUBLIC office served as the launch pad to roll up 1,700 pieces of art from over 100 artists from 52 different cities and 11 different countries. Hundreds of strangers on the streets of San Francisco received a nice surprise by a lovely posse of bicyclists giving away and throwing rolled up art on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  Take a look our photos we took of the strangers who received their surprises.

Rob is the Chief PUBLIC Servant. He founded PUBLIC because of his belief that well-designed PUBLIC spaces are the bedrock of civilization.

We took a look at bicycling attire on the streets of Copenhagen and Amsterdam recently. This was good fun, as you can see the friendly faces of people riding around when they are not concealed under a helmet. We noticed that there were actually more scarves than helmets on riders. It’s not that they are more concerned with fashion than with safety abroad. It’s rather that scarves, like front zippers on jackets or gloves, allow you warm up, or cool off quickly. They are an easy way to adjust to changes in weather from morning until night. They allow people to ride more often, and in greater numbers. This might be the real key to safety.

Facts: Safety in Numbers

Cars respect cyclists in these cities. Riders have some special rights and privileges, like dedicated lanes. Serious bicycle injuries have been in decline in recent decades in Copenhagen and Amsterdam because more people are riding. A recent 20% rise in cycling was accompanied by a corresponding 20% decline in injuries in the past decade. The same dynamics occur in US cities. When more people ride, the streets are safer as the car drivers and bicyclists pay more attention. There is safety in numbers.

PUBLIC Gear

We recommend helmets for bicyclists in the US and we sell a few that are quite special. We also sell some gloves and other accessories for comfort—some are On Sale right now. We look forward to a time when we will have separated safe lanes and paths for bicyclists in US cities, more respect from car drivers, more scarves than helmets, and more hard-core commuter footwear like this on the street.