August 19, 2019 |
Before the collaboration train hit top speed, Sacai’s Chitose Abe teamed up with Nike back in 2014. Their first joint collection was released the following year, reinventing ideas of women’s activewear. Without a pair of micro floral print leggins in sight, the cut-and-paste pieces opened a new chapter in the lives of those who weren’t up for looking like one of those Hampstead mums pushing a stroller in head-to-toe Sweaty Betty. Mesh pleated skirts and jumpers with matching details on the back, all in wrong-but-right colourways – this was athletic wear for people whose favourite sports is fashion week-ing. “We saw immediately that Abe is very good at mixing up sportswear with high fashion. One of the things that we thought was really interesting about working with Sacai was her way of layering and draping.” says Fraser Cooke, Nike’s Special Projects Senior Director, of those beginnings. Ever since, the collaboration has been an ongoing one, with trainers in particular becoming part of Sacai’s mainline collections and causing quite a stir when released. The double layer Nike LDWaffle trainer has become somewhat of a fashion myth even before it launched this past May. And in case you missed a chance to get them the first time round, Abe and Nike are giving you take two.
The next Nike x Sacai collection in line to be released is dropping this coming September and includes 11 pieces including additional colourways of the Waffle and Blaze trainers as well as men, women and children’s apparel. Chitose Abe’s technique of fashion hybridisation is on full display as colours, cuts and archival elements collide in streamlined silhouettes that, from afar, could be part of someone’s Olympic running gear. But up close, they’re nothing but technical masterpieces. The standout item, in addition to the LDWaffle, is definitely the multicoloured 1950s-style A-Line skirt made out of a mix of Nike’s archive pieces, including the staple Windrunner jacket. Nurturing the relationship between craft and technology, Abe’s new collection is a testament to her own skillset of putting together past and present, and then making sure everyone wants to buy it. With the exact release still TBC, this is your cue to save up that August salary. Just in time for the Fashion Week marathon, we’ll be dressed head-to-toe in new season Nike x Sacai.
The Nike x Sacai collection is dropping in September, online and in selected stores.
