Issue 71 - Retro Team KAS Jersey

Etxeondo produced the original KAS team clothing in the 1980's and it had been on the top of our retro peloton list for some time.

Over the years, we requested Etxeondo to reproduce this classic maillot but were always disappointed when we were told that Etxeondo were not interested in reproducing jerseys from their glorious past.

It was really important for us to get the original manufacturer to make it for us as we felt the Etxeondo logo was an important part of the appeal.

Eventually, we decided to back them into corner. A rather long winded and labour intensive project meant eventually we gained permission from PepsiCo to use the KAS logo on a retro jersey. PepsiCo own the name and still make a KAS product to this day!

Although Etxeondo have a great heritage in supplying pro teams - they didn't actually have an original pro issue team jersey at the headquarters, so it was amazing to find out that the big man himself lent them one from his archive.

No prizes for guessing who's jersey this was when it came out of the washing machine!

Progress in production....

Photo: Ramon Mendiburu.

So the KAS jersey started to make their way from a request to actual product! After a few issues along the way were resolved (don't ask!) we were delighted to see progress of the KAS jerseys in production!

The KAS jerseys have arrived!

Once the hundreds of jerseys had finally arrived (February 2011 for those with an eye for detail), had been counted and were put up on the Prendas website sales started arriving over night with customers happy to emulate the look of Sean Kelly, Acacio Da Silva, Pascal Richard, Jörg Müller, Jean-Luc Vandenbroucke et al.

Lead photo: Mick at Etxeondo with Sean Kelly's original jersey. Note the old zip puller and MAVIC logo that was omitted from the replica jersey. Photo: Ramon Mendiburu.