Bicycles are going couture.
Ralph Lauren, Missoni and Kate Spade , better known for fashionable clothing, are now taking up a new product line, designer bicycles -- and they are selling fast. Three-speed bicycles with the trademark zig-zag and striped patterns of Italian fashion house Missoni nearly sold out the day of their introduction at Target this month, and only a few are still available in scattered stores. The two-wheelers, which cost $399, got a jump-start from a covetous celebrity tweet by actress Jessica Alba. One version -- with a distinct copper-colour pattern -- sold out the first day and has resold for as much as $1,279.95 on EBay. They were snapped up by customers such as Connie Chen, a Portland, Ore., industrial engineer and occasional bike rider. "I was really drawn to the patterns of the paint and the fact that it was a designer bicycle and was very classic with a leather seat and a basket," Chen said. Fashion designers like bicycles because, unlike cars, they are comparat