Clothing won't protect bicyclists from the La Nina weather expected for this winter but the right clothing can help you be more comfortable and looking fashionable.

Handbuilt in Ballard and sold at Hub and Bespoke in Fremont, Telaio Wool Bicycle Clothing is a small cottage industry that was started out of one woman's need for better, practical everyday cycling apparel.

Telaio founder and designer Katharine Andrews started the company while working on her final project for the Apparel Design Program at Seattle Central Community College.

"I was bicycling five hilly miles to school everyday in jeans and cotton t-shirts--I've never been inclined towards spandex or sports gear or carrying around a change of clothes--and, though I'd be warm when I arrived, I'd soon get chilled in my slightly damp t-shirt, etc. and spend the rest of the day trying not to shiver," Andrews recalled. "Basically, my clothes weren't working for my life style and so I put my efforts towards designing, and making, some that did."

Andrews said she works with wool because it's the "original 'performance' fiber".

"It's been, quite literally, perfected by evolution on the backs of sheep and goats all over the world, for millennia. It's insulating even when wet, it's naturally anti-bacterial and antimicrobial, it wicks moisture away from the skin and towards the surface of the fabric, it's generally water-resistant because it has natural lanolin, and modern weaving techniques have really made it non-itchy," Andrews said. "On top of that, it's sustainable and kind of classy, in the sense of being fine quality and classic."

Andrews said that when she wore wool, she wouldn't get chilled after riding, and felt properly dressed for wherever the day would take her.

"I think it's important to get more people on bikes in street clothes because biking is for everyone, not just serious athletes. If bicycling is to become part of everyday life -- and it should -- it needs to look and feel like everyday life," she said.

Telaio’s wool trousers and knickers, vests, caps, and women’s cycling dress pay tribute to a pre-spandex bicycling era while addressing the functional and aesthetic needs of the modern commuter, messenger, and joy-rider, for whom bicycling is an integrated part of life.

With her work, Andrews hopes to increase and inspire both individual autonomy through bicycling, and community inter-dependence through providing the opportunity to purchase a locally-made, long-lasting high-quality product.

Andrews' clothing line, including a wool cycling vest and a 365 dress for women, are for sale at Hub and Bespoke, 513 N 36th St.

Visit Telaio's website for more information.