Thetruth is that I have countless chats to my credit in which I chat amiably and shamelessly about brands and products that we fashion victim runners cannot do without. And while I am often the one to point them out to others (as well as in this column) this is instead the case of a brand that I did not know and that was pointed out to me in one of these exclusive chats: so let’s give Caesar what is Caesar’s (clearly a fictitious name to protect the privacy of chat participants).
Rabbit was born from the idea and experience of two women (Monica and Jill): like all the brands we like a lot, the founders are first and foremost two runners. A team of course may be made up of qualified people, but the philosophy of the brand, that extra oomph that makes the difference, is always put in by the founder: and if the founder is not the first one to be a runner then we will just have yet another company selling soulless running products. Which is more than legitimate but will hardly find a place for a review here on Precious Things.
Rabbit as the pacer is often called in English, what we call hare. But honestly, my first thought went to the white rabbit and Alice following him headlong into Wonderland.
The products are beautiful. All. The different graphics are cleverly declined from one product to the next, revealing membership in a single ecosystem without appearing boringly all the same. The various collections are very different from one another: while this is a drawback to brand recognition, it also means that you are sure to find something you like. And if you can’t find anything you like maybe you have to surrender to the fact that you have bad taste!
Right now my favorite collection is PR (Personal Record? Pro Rabbit? Primaopoi aRrivo?) 2022. Partly because with the chosen color palette it is hard to do wrong, partly because instead with this very color palette it was easy to be on the “nice but mundane” side. And it is here that the graphic designer who shares my body rent instead appreciates the skillful use of diagonals, asymmetry, and patterns.
But let’s come to the treat, which I had no doubt Martino would rave about: the running shirt. In fact, trail running.
Who says the shirt should be the preserve of office work? After clearing sneakers and t-shirts in the work environment, it is finally time to do the opposite. Okay, maybe it’s not the best garment for an ultramarathon, but for a short outing-one of those without a backpack, which then ruins my outfit-I’d give it a thought.
Unfortunately, the closest store to us is in a remote little town on the German-French border, so it’s a good thing there is the online shop: the prices-for once in a while-are absolutely affordable and honest for the quality offered.