I’m Still Obsessed With the Sleek Biker Style in ‘Torque’

Twenty years ago, and at the ripe age of 11-years-old, I was obsessed with two things: Britney Spears’s In The Zone album, and the action movie Torque.

You’ve likely heard of the former piece of art, but the latter film is seriously underrated. Directed by Joseph Kahn (who also did Britney’s “Toxic” video), the film centers around a biker (Martin Henderson) who’s on the run from various other rough-and-tough bike dudes. Basically, there’s lots of drugs and murder involved—but don’t watch it for the plot. This B-action movie is my secret-favorite because of the costumes. Specifically, the sleek biker wear, worn by cast members such as Monet Mazur, Ice Cube, Jaime Pressly, and Christina Milian.

Photo: Courtesy of Everett Collection

Costume designed by Elisabetta Beraldo, Torque is not the type of movie that generates Oscar nods—but it’s pretty to look at. Two decades later, I can’t help but think back fondly on the endless wardrobe of leather jackets. As the characters race through the streets in their various high-speed bikes, they don edgy moto styles adorned with colorful racing stripes. The fashion is full-throttle, baby! It had such an impact on me that, after watching it, I wore one of my dad’s leather bombers around the house nonstop—thinking that I was a cool biker dude, too.

In my very expert opinion, the best scene in the movie is when Mazur and Pressly’s characters face-off in an epic bike race-slash-fight; Mazur dons a skin-tight blue, red, and white leather zip-up jacket, while Pressly, the film’s resident bad girl, is in head-to-toe black leather (with chunky highlights, obviously—it was 2004.) In another scene, Milian rolls up wearing a cropped red Von Dutch halter with skin-tight leather pants. Similarly to the Fast & Furious films, the biker babes are all dressed to kill; There’s a cool nonchalance to the way they clad themselves entirely in leather, as though they’re ready for a rip around town at any given moment.