Ready, typeset, go: Monotype and Milltag drop Helvetica cyclewear range

Type foundry Monotype and cyclewear brand Milltag have collaborated on a new range of cycling apparel celebrating one of the world’s best known and loved typefaces, Helvetica. Perfect for that crossover audience of graphic designer cyclists, the capsule collection features jerseys, bib shorts, a cap, mitts and musette bag, in a colour scheme dominated by Swiss Red to honour the typeface’s Swiss designers Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann.

The name Helvetica is brandished proudly across the garments in its eponymous typeface, as well as ‘1957’ – the year the typeface was first released – and the Swiss cross to honour its geographical origin. One side of the musette is even adorned with the full character set in all its glory. The graphics are deployed on Milltag’s club range, which uses high performance fabrics and a slim but not skin tight fit.

Last year Monotype released the Helvetica Now typeface, a family of fonts redrawn by its in-house studio to adapt the aesthetic and functional qualities of Helvetica to modern day needs.

Milltag was founded by Ed Cowburn, something of an expert in the cross-section of sport and graphic design as he’s also founder of AcidFC, a London studio specialising in football who recently redesigned the kit for Red Star FC.

“As a designer, it’s a huge honour to work with probably the most well-known and loved brand in the graphic design industry,” he says in a statement. “Milltag was set up ten years ago to provide cycling jerseys that spoke to us in a way that kit at the time did not. Why couldn’t we have logos of the things we had a true emotional attachment to? Like bands, artists or design classics? Helvetica is one of those things and thankfully Monotype shared our vision to create what effectively is the Helvetica Cycling Club.”

Drawing from the typeface’s classic Swiss Modernist design, the collection is “graphically clean, modern and simple… a sharp contrast to professional cycling jerseys that are awash with logos,” adds Cowburn. “We are very pleased with the result and as with Helvetica, we hope it looks good wherever it is used, whether in the urban environment or up a Swiss Alp.”

James Fooks-Bale, senior director of creative at Monotype, comments: “Typography helps brands convey not just information, but personality and value. Too often, the emphasis on design is hidden in the background, despite being a core differentiator in the making of a beautiful product. Helvetica is a typeface built for both form and function, similar to the way Milltag designs great cycling apparel.” Hence, he says, this range brings “one of the world’s most popular typefaces to the forefront, providing this limited capsule collection to a new audience of design enthusiasts”.

The Helvetica cyclewear collection is available to pre-order now until 25 October, going out early December 2020.