Muse

Photo credit: Nicky Hayden crashes in the rain at the British Grand Prix, June 24, 2007, Patrick Lundin/Gold & Goose.

Inside an Irish pub, tucked away in the Costa Mesa arm of Newport Beach, California, Krista's life changed in an instant.

As a gaggle of MotoGP racers tore through the straights of a European circuit at over 200 mph, then all flipped through the first corner, like the crest of a wave falling on the surf, the angels sang, and the sun poured through the widows of that dark, dingy bar. It was a Sunday morning, March 2005.

For more than 15 seasons, Krista did everything she could to grow the sport of MotoGP aka the premier class of two-wheeled racing aka the two-wheel equivalent of Formula One aka the fastest boys on two wheels.

Straight Outta Owensboro

The fact that so many Americans have never even heard of MotoGP and its roster of legendary racers, Krista thought it vital for the US market to embrace their premier American racer, Nicky Hayden, and his teammates.

Born and raised in Owensboro, Kentucky, Hayden's whole family raced motorbikes, including his mum and two sisters. By the ripe ol' age of 3, he was learning the art of how to throw a leg over and was racing (and winning!) flatrack not long after. He rose up through the ranks, collecting wall-cases of trophies along the way, and at the age of 21, he was crowned the youngest Superbike Champion of the American series. This helped him secure the very coveted Repsol Honda factory ride alongside the greatest motorcycle racer of all time, Italy’s pride and joy, Valentino Rossi.

Never Give Up. Never Give In.

Krista met Hayden in 2005 and what follows is how she turned Hayden’s mantra into a business.

In 2008, when MotoGP returned to race at the track in Indianapolis, Indiana, after an almost 100-year gap, Nicky did an interview where he said, “We need sponsors!”

Krista took note, and that’s when the real work began.

Since Hugo Boss had been one of the longest running sponsors in F1, she decided that couture should sponsor the bikes as well. She started with a letter to Marc Jacobs, then at the helm of Louis Vuitton, and continued to strategize about who and where and how the sport could secure sponsors.

She traveled to all of the American races, where she’d meet with Dorna, the former sanctioning body of the sport, and update her contacts on what she was doing. Then, in 2010, she went all in and created The House of Racing (THOR).

She pitched every fashion house this side of London, Paris, and Milan, sending massive media packets to the following:

Gucci (Frida Giannini era)
Versace
Burberry (Christopher Bailey era)
Ralph Lauren
Uniqlo
Givenchy (Ricardo Tisci era)
Topman
ASOS.com
Adidas
Zappos.com
Calvin Klein (CK)
Penguin (The Original Golf Tee)
Paul Mitchell
Kiehl’s
Belstaff
Andrew Marc
Gilt Groupe
John Varvatos
Hugo Boss
Brioni (Justin O’Shea era)
G-Star Raw

She also contacted leading fashion websites:

Yoox.com
MrPorter.com
Nasty Gal

Plus other miscellaneous brands, top in their industry:

Victorinox (Swiss Army Knives)
Capital One Credit Card
Ghirardelli Chocolate
Proctor & Gamble (Braun)
Ketel One (Parent company Diageo)
Harry’s (via Warby Parker)
LÄRABAR
Beats by Dre
Commando (Lingerie)
Stüssy
Street King (50 Cents’ Energy Drink)
Equinox
Under Armour
Priceline.com
Motocross Movie: Hellion
Uber

Now, Hayden, a double-Leo, had more good looks and charm in his pinky fingernail than an entire group of the top-salesmen for a Fortune 100 company. So of course Krista Hayden pieces to the editors of the following publications/TV shows:

GQ
Playboy
Esquire
Vogue
60 Minutes (with Anderson Cooper)
The Chelsea Lately Show

Photo Credit: @nicky_hayden by Shawn Gritzmacher.

It Can't Rain All the Time

Four years in, however, and it simply wasn’t happening. ASOS.com and Belstaff went to F1, Vuitton screamed at her; Yoox.com hung up on her. Versace laughed. The very posh (read: British) secretary at Topman: “Sorry, who are you with?”

Gucci canceled a meeting in Milan at the last minute...ciao-ciao to $1,500 in plane tickets and hotel reservations. Of course it wasn’t about losing the money; it was the realization that a new strategy was needed.

At the same time, Nicky was struggling right alongside THOR, facing the many challenges that come with racing at the premier level. But after every bad race, after wrestling with Repsol’s 800cc demon and later, Ducati’s unrideable Desmosidici, he never gave up. His “it can’t rain all the time” work ethic and positive ethos pushed Krista to forge on, too.

Charmed

Cut to the spring of 2014, when Krista spotted an Ippolita charm-bracelet splashed across one of the pages of an open Elle magazine lying on her coffee table. She thought: those pavé skulls and pearls should be *69 cutouts and Rossi Suns and Moons...

A fashion epiphany, if you will.

At the time, GP apparel was (and is) resting on its laurels. The sport is sitting on a goldmine of racers’ personas, and yet, it does nothing but stamp out cheap t-shirts and baseball caps.

Keep in mind, the MotoGP fanbase is made up of more than 300 million evangelicals, worldwide, and its passionate – nay, rabid – crowds crave spectacular products that will not only look chic, but showcase their love for Nicky et al.

That Day in May

A week after Krista’s jewelry designs were approved, the unthinkable happened. And it took almost two years exactly for new ideas to begin again. What follows is an excerpt from “Muse,” a longer story of passion, loss, and those who have the ability to figure it out in order to race again.

“Win. Wipe Out. Repeat.” from writer and editor Josh Dean’s piece on 2006 World Champion and MotoGP Legend, Nicky Hayden, for the New York Times’ now-defunct online Play magazine.

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