Yahoo Finance Nike’s Really Feeling This Whole High-Fashion Thing Right Now
Photo: @mrkimjones/Instagram
High fashion and fitness brands have been going steady for a while now. And the ongoing love affair, otherwise known as athleisure, continues with Nike, which has tapped Kim Jones, the Louis Vuitton menswear designer, for a new capsule collaboration under the company’s NikeLab line.
The Brit is the latest to join the brand’s stable of creatives, which has included Riccardo Tisci of Givenchy and Chitose Abe of Sacai. Just last month, Olivier Rousteing of Balmain teamed up with the company for a soccer capsule range. Launching in July, Jones’s partnership will be a part of Nike’s “Summer Sport” offerings in celebration of the Rio Olympics. It’s set to include a jacket, shorts, pants, a sweater, and a T-shirt.
Based on the frequency in which the Oregon-based retailer works with luxury brands, one can only imagine the success the company experiences by doing so. Tisci’s first Nike collaboration, the Air Force 1, sold out in all color-style variations within hours of launch. It was actually off the success of that release that the Italian designer was asked to return for more projects. Rousteing’s collaboration was so highly anticipated that after it sold out, items from the collection could be found on eBay for close to $1,000.
But it’s not just Nike getting in on the high-fashion game. In a surprising move last week, Under Armour tapped New York City–based Tim Coppens for a post. Instead of a one-off job, the designer has been named the creative director of UAS (Under Armour Sportswear). That project will launch in the fall.
For its own efforts, Adidas has a longstanding relationship with Yohji Yamamoto in the form of its Y-3 range but also has close ties with Stella McCartney, Raf Simons, Mary Katrantzou, and Jeremy Scott.
The popularity of the projects speak to the ever-discussed athleisure trend, which sees performance-focused technologies blended seamlessly into elevated design. The prevalence of gym-to-drinks dressing and mixing seemingly disparate pieces like ball gowns and basketball shoes dovetail perfectly for the industry to embrace these sort of link-ups. In fact, it’s gotten so popular that celebrities including Rihanna and Beyoncé have joined the fray, with the latter having introduced her own athletic clothes in collaboration with Topshop.
The tactic is also an extension of an overarching scheme to bring luxury to the masses through partnerships between H&M and the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Alexander Wang, or Target with Proenza Schouler and Missoni.
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