{"id":12355,"date":"2010-02-10T16:43:25","date_gmt":"2010-02-10T16:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.influx.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=12355"},"modified":"2022-06-22T17:47:41","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T16:47:41","slug":"ateliers-ruby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/ateliers-ruby\/","title":{"rendered":"At\u00e9liers Ruby"},"content":{"rendered":"

First there\u2019s the price: \u00a3425 for a plain colour, rising to as much as \u00a3600 for a pattern and more for a limited edition. The price may be a shock, but Ruby have elevated helmet design and manufacture beyond pure safety, and well beyond passing trends and fashion, to create a helmet that can be fetishised. On the surface, it\u2019s a handsome, but optimistically priced open-face helmet, just like, on the surface, an Aston Martin V12 Vantage is a good-looking, two-door car. But hold a Ruby Pavillon in your hands, let it encase your head, and it becomes something different. It possesses the quality to convert sceptics. It converted this one.<\/p>\n

\"Legendary<\/a><\/figure>\n

Ruby is the life and love of Frenchman J\u00e9r\u00f4me Coste. He is a Hendrix-esque, 38-year-old, brought up wedged between the front seats of a Jaguar XK120 by young, hippy parents. When we meet, Coste has Lewis Leathers boots on his feet, the keys to a Yamaha SR500 street tracker in his pocket, a silk scarf around his neck and a halo of aromatic smoke.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n

Coste spent a decade and a half designing clothing and equipment aimed at X-Gamers, for American companies JT and One Industries. But by 2000 he had built up skate-, BMX-, Mountain Bike-wear company, Hold-Up. Then he ran it into the ground.<\/p>\n

\u2018I thought I could do everything myself,\u2019 Coste admits. \u2018But I\u2019m bad at managing the money stuff. Finally, I crashed the company.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"A<\/a><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Perhaps it because he\u2019s talking in a second language, but I like the fact he uses moto-terminology to describe business practises. He didn\u2019t go bankrupt, he crashed. And what do you do after a crash? If you\u2019re any kind of man, you get back on.<\/p>\n

In 2001, at a crossroads in his life, Coste started thinking about creating a helmet, \u2018The most beautiful and best helmet in the world\u2019. By 2003, the project became all-consuming. By then the name, the ridged crest and overall look was set.<\/p>\n

The ridge. At first it appears to be an attempt to differentiate a Ruby helmet from every other lid <\/sup>on the planet. But, after some contemplation, the lateral crest echoes ancient warriors\u2019 helmets. More recently, it\u2019s seen on the protective headgear of First World War French soldiers, modern day firefighters and Darth Vadar. But the ridge is just the start of these helmets\u2019 appeal.<\/p>\n

\u2018Why Ruby?\u2019 echoes Coste. \u2018Because it is four letters. It is feminine in a world of sweating, dirty guys. It evokes descriptions like precious, hard, passion… It is also the name of the engine that powered my father\u2019s Sandford, the three-wheeled racing car he competed in when I was a boy.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Ruby<\/a><\/figure>\n

Pick up one of the company\u2019s helmets and Ruby stares back, with her fingers crossed, from the crown of the lining. \u2018She is your guardian angel,\u2019 Coste explains. \u2018She is hot and she is looking after you. And every time you put on your helmet she is wishing you \u201cBon Voyage\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t believe in the protective abilities of this curvaceous 21st century St Christopher, the spec of the helmet is of more interest. The shell is completely carbon fibre, like the bodywork of Ferrari\u2019s FI cars or the fairing of a MotoGP bike.<\/p>\n

\u2018Riding in a city is more dangerous than on a racing track, so people in the city deserve the same as a champion.\u2019<\/p>\n

The lining is a mix of an Alcantara-like synthetic suede and French lambskin. The standard lining colour is Cardinal Red, \u2018Inspired by the interiors of British sportscars,\u2019 says Coste. The leather goggle retaining clip on the back of the helmet contains a card the wearer is encouraged to write his medical details on. The rivets that fix the two halves of the strap to the shell look like jewels. The whole helmet, even the box it arrives in, is of a quality than makes you just want pick it up and inspect it, put it on and only reluctantly remove it.<\/p>\n

Ruby helmets are made in China, a fact that I find a little at odds with the price tag of the entry-level Pavillon, but China is home to the only factory that make carbon shells to the quality Coste demands.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n

The helmet itself transcends fashion, but Ruby has collaborated with Maison Martin Margiela to create a limited-edition, white-washed Ruby Pavillon that has the Margiela design team\u2019s signatures and scribbles scratched into the thin top coat of paint. French artist Honet and Anglo-Japanese designers Eley Kishomoto have created other limited editions, but the next collaboration is likely to eclipse them all \u2013 in terms of coverage is not style. Karl Lagerfeld used mink- and white rabbit fur-covered Ruby helmets in his Autumn-Winter 2009-2010 catwalk show. This led to Ruby and Lagerfeld producing 100 Lagerfeld-designed fabric covered Pavillon\u2019s for (fair weather) riders and a further six each of the fur-covered Belvedere open-face helmets for collectors. The PETA-baiting helmets will go on the market for up to \u20ac5000.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

While I\u2019d rather risk riding without protection than resort to a \u20ac5000 mink-covered crash helmet, the whole Ruby experience remind me of the adage, ‘if you have a \u20ac100 head, get a \u20ac100 helmet.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

French company Ruby are determined to change the way motorcyclists think about fashion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1781,6],"tags":[1543],"class_list":["post-12355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-features","tag-helmet"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAt\u00e9liers Ruby | Influx Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"French company Ruby are bringing retro chic to the motorcycle masses.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adrianflux.co.uk\/influx\/features\/ateliers-ruby\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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