What Happened to Vaela?

If you've clicked through to a Vaela product from one of our guides and landed on a page saying "no longer accepting online orders" — that's not a glitch. Vaela, the London brand making cycling-cut denim and jackets, has closed.

What Vaela was

Vaela launched in 2020 with a simple, good idea: build womenswear that's genuinely cut for the bike — jeans and jackets that move properly when you pedal, without looking like technical kit off it. Small runs, sustainability front and centre — they published independent lifecycle analysis showing their core collection ran well below typical fast-fashion carbon and water use, and experimented with pay-what-you-feel pricing. It's exactly the kind of brand we like carrying: made for city riding, not for racing.

We stocked their 002 and 003 jeans on Velorution, and they were genuinely good — real denim that didn't fight you on the bike.

What happened

Vaela's own website now reads: "It's a wrap. Vaela is no longer accepting online orders." Their Instagram bio says the same, plainly: "VAELA NOW CLOSED." Beyond that, there's no public statement from the brand explaining why, and we haven't got a direct line to anyone there — so rather than guess, we'll just say: it's closed, and leave it there. If that changes, we'll update this.

What this means if you own a pair

No word on ongoing warranty or repairs — worth checking Vaela's Instagram directly if you need support on an existing pair, since that's the only channel that still seems to be live.

What to buy instead

We've pulled Vaela from our cycling jeans & chinos guide and replaced it with three brands we still stock and trust:

Osloh Traffic Bicycle Jean

The nearest match to what Vaela made — a US brand built entirely around cycling-specific denim, slim-fit with stretch exactly where pedalling needs it. Around £93. See it at Osloh →

Sigr Riksväg 99

Not denim, but the closest thing in spirit — Scandi-made chinos with hidden stretch and reflective detailing, men's and women's, £110. Browse Sigr · Shop →

Ornot Mission Pants

San Francisco-made technical trousers with real stretch through the seat and knee, £119. Browse Ornot · Shop →

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Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them, the brand may pay Velorution a small commission at no cost to you. The Osloh link is not an affiliate link. It never affects what we recommend. More on how Velorution works here.