The men’s giftware category continues to grow with the launch of new Outliving range, Café Racer, inspired by the motorcycle subculture of the same name, which emerged in the 1960s.
Café Racer has moved into the mainstream after being used as a reference point for fashion and photographers because of its vintage style. Given the success of push bikes as a gifting theme, Outliving thought it was the perfect opportunity to do a range based on motorbikes.
Products in the collection include notebooks, mugs, pencils, flasks and soap. Both the Café Racer attitude and style – such as gas station signs and bike parts – influenced the product design.
“We spent a lot of time trying to make a range that didn’t feel mass produced,” says Barry Glick, director Outliving. “We used materials that had imperfections and were naturally worn and we thought of products that didn’t already exist in the gifting market.
“The products feel authentic and closer to a one off item. We’ve achieved this, but also achieved price points which will allow retailers to move good volume. Other men’s gifting on the market is either more expensive and niche and/or a similar price but feels very mass produced, not authentic and leans more towards novelty.”
Outliving designer, Richard Reed adds, “The graphic elements used across the range are originally hand rendered in ink right through to the logo. We looked at the style and design process of road signage and motor advertising from the early period of Café Racer culture and wanted to ensure a level of authenticity, done properly the old fashioned way.”
Café Racer provides Outliving with a more design-oriented, homewares style men’s gift range as opposed to its many novelty men’s lines. It will also be sold in the UK and US.
“The love of bikes is global, much like the café racer sub-culture originating in 1960s London. The style and aesthetic have been adopted and developed throughout Europe, America, Japan and of course Australia,” explains Reed.
