Nike looks to make sport more feminine with Sacai capsule collection
Nike has added a feminine edge to its NikeLab X sportswear in a new collaboration with Japanese fashion studio Sacai.
Founder Chitose Abe worked with NikeLab, the brand's innovation and creative research team, to produce a collection of eight items based on running, tennis and American football.
The result is a reinterpretation of Nike items such including the crew sweatshirt, crew hooded sweatshirt, crew top, crew knee-length dress and sweatpants in Nike's Tech Fleece fabric.
Abe’s use of juxtaposition in design has seen the Nike Windrunner re-designed as a skirt featuring plissé-style pleating, while a hooded sweatshirt features peplum detail.
“At Nike we study the body in motion,” said Kurt Parker, VP/creative director, Nike Sportswear. “Abe’s aesthetic and design sensibility naturally aligned with this focus and together we explored how to best express this notion during the development and material selection process. Abe’s unique take on movement re-contextualized the Windrunner in a completely new and unexpected way.”
The full collection comprises eight pieces of apparel in various bold colours pulled directly from the Nike sport archive: the Tech Fleece crew, Tech Fleece hooded sweatshirt with zip, Windrunner jacket, Sport Skirt, Graphic tee, Tech Fleece dress, Tech Fleece crew top with back zip and Tech Fleece pant.
The NikeLab x Sacai has also spurned a new interpretation of the brand's Air Max trainer, which has been reworked into a slip-on style, following the theme of expression and freedom of movement that features througout the collection.
The collection launches globally on 19 March in NikeLab stores in New York, London, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong and Shanghai and on nike.com/NikeLab in North America, Western Europe, Japan, and China. The collection will launch on 25 March in Japan.