When I first saw the logo for Denver’s Marczyk Fine Wines - a black and white 1950′s photo of a woman guzzling wine from the bottle, I thought, “Wow! That image would be great on a cycling jersey!” I imagined the woman picnicking by the side of the road with her baguette and cheese, cheering “allez! allez!” to Tour de France riders as they whizzed by.

One thing led to another and I ended up designing two limited edition cycling jerseys for Marczyk’s; the “Drinking Lady” being the first off the sewing line, just in time for the USA Pro Challenge where racers will ride laps around Marczyk’s this Sunday, August 25.

It turns out that the woman in the picture is the mother of the wine shop’s owner, Barbara, who describes the origin of the photo, “When we were little, I was not yet a year old, my father decided it would be cool/fun/crazy to live in Italy. So he and mama packed up three little kids and took an ocean liner, the Christopher Columbus, to Italy and found a place to live in Rome. From there they would travel out to the countryside and bring a picnic.”

“So when we were opening the wine shop, we had already made many of their pictures of life in Italy part of our brand. Our logo designer asked to see the book of photos again, and there it was, the perfect image! I think my mother would be pleased to be part of our world.”

OK, so Barbara’s mother was whooping it up at the Giro instead!

The jersey shown here is a woman’s fit. The men’s version has the same graphics and colors. White side panels read “The Best Wines You’ve Never Heard Of” and the back has the same photo image as the front. To enquire about the jerseys or to place an order email barbara@marczyk.com.

“LIKE” Poppy Gall Design Studio on facebook here.