“You’re going to bike in that?” It’s an oft-heard refrain by lady cyclists who choose to pedal the city in style, and perhaps never so often as by the seven women of The Deadly Nightshades.

“Patty made these yesterday from remnants,” says Nightshades member Kirsten White of the matching outfits that she and her fellow members wear. She straddles her bike wearing a short turquoise and orange dress accented with zebra stripes. “They were hand-dyed in a bathtub.”

A self-described “Canadian all-girl midnight bike gang and design collective combined,” the Deadly Nightshades will lead a group of more than 20 bike and style enthusiasts on a “Style Spin.” Every Friday until the end of the summer, the Nightshades will guide these free pedal-powered tours of a handful of Toronto design studios usually off limits to the public.

We start at the Drake Hotel on Queen Street West and pedal en masse north to Bloor Street West before turning down an alley to arrive at our first destination: DNS member Irene Stickney’s The Make Den at 1207 Bloor St. West. Housed above 69 Vintage, The Make Den offers custom tailoring and sewing lessons, including a special program for teens who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford the classes. We’re treated to a fashion show from several of these teens, who look stunning parading through a makeshift backyard runway.

It’s just the sort of behind-the-scenes exposure that the Deadly Nightshades work to provide for the city’s indie design community.

“We met at Ryerson’s fashion design program, and originally we just wanted to bike around the city with a stereo wearing matching jackets,” says Deadly Nightshade Laura Mensinga of the unlikely gang’s origins. That was five years ago. Today, the Nightshades are fixtures and big-time promoters of the city’s cycling and indie fashion scenes.

The tour hits several other studios, among them the Sara Duke Factory Store, cycling bag maker YNOT Cycle, and Sartoria, Sara Torrie’s one-woman label specializing in cashmere underwear.

“We want to make cycling less scary and show that you can look good and still be comfortable,” says Mensinga as the tour draws to a close and we pedal back to the Drake.

She gives a cheeky grin: “Also, there’s power in numbers.”