The Nike 6.0 Buzz Aldrin Rocket Hero Mavrk Mid 2. To infinity an beyond! Available at select retailers January 1st.
The Mavrk Mid 2 is constructed with a cold-wrap process, which allows the reduction of material in the outsole for a significantly lighter shoe while reducing the use of harmful solvents. The insertion of a true mid-sole offers increased impact absorption while integrated Nike Free inspired flex-grooves on the outsole allow for torsional flex and board-feel for true lightweight performance. A stitchless toe creates a clean finish and amplifies durability.
Gorgeous looking All Court Premiums designed by Fragment Design (remember that interview). Available August 22nd and August 29th. Via Hypebeast and welcome to enter my closet this season.
I’m absolutely loving Nike’s latest push back into their heritage with their vintage lines. This Tennis Classic is 95 Euros, available at Star Cow. Via Hypebeast
You’re getting a super sneak peek at Nike 6.0’s neat space-themed Explorer Pack scheduled for release in January 2010, though we wish it were coming out now ’cause of all the moon-landing anniversary talk in the air that has us feeling space-y. The Nike 6.0 team went to NASA HQ to get inspired for the design of the collection, even going so far as to tap astronaut Buzz Aldrin to help devise the galaxy print. It adorns everything from the Galaxy hoody to Triad backpack. I especially love the tee (sorry, not pictured), which is printed with the world-famous image of Aldrin from the Apollo Moon landing. There’s also another jacket in white, is waterproof and has special details, like zip pulls and Velcro straps in red and blue to correspond to the left and right sides—all in direct reference to astronauts’ space suits. Pretty out of this world.
When word starting hitting the hypebeast sites that Nike was getting into skateboarding, there were plenty of doubters. Afterall, what does a company built on the waffle racer and Air Jordan’s know about the (pseudo) underground sport of skateboarding? The naysayers were silenced and now Nike is respected in the skate world having both a roster of talent and great kicks. One reason I think Nike has always been able to maintain it’s corporate dominance while garnering respect of their customers is they know how to gather the best talent and market themselves to their audience, in a way that shows they understand. That’s exactly what they have done with their new and revolutionary project Debacle. For Nike’s latest skate video, they teamed up with Adobe’s Experience Design (XD) team and Hega TV. Together, along with director Jason Hernandez’s leadership, they have produced a film that is inspiring and breathtaking, in full HD. Luckily for you, the viewer, they flipped the traditional distribution method on it’s head. Nike SB: Debacle is available first online for viewing and download, then a Blu-Ray version will be released later. By now I hope I have convinced you to go watch 30 minutes of the most progressive skateboarding today. Congrats to everyone involved.
Nike Sportswear (NSW) is the sneaker company’s newest line, featuring exclusive products focusing on a high quality. They made a huge splash when they announced a partnership with Loopwheeler Japan (amazing quality) to produce the world’s best hoodies. Recently, a special NSW project out of Italy caught my eye. Called Nikesportswear Stories, the creative team focused on two DJ’s, a football player and a volleyball player as they went about their daily lives– all using stop-motion photography. Make no mistake about it – though this is a very cool art/video project, there is a strong tie to the ecommerce site. In each scene, the name of the products being featured are captioned near the model. Mousing over the title pauses the main scene and brings up a picture-in-picture animation focusing in on said product. We’ve all seen witty shopping sites but leave it to Nike to bring this level of creativity to an online store. Besides being beautiful, the site is great at doing what it’s designed for – selling products. Check it out.
You’re getting the first look at Nike Sportswear in Brazil’s new pop-up store Canarinho in the Gallery of Rock in Sao Paulo and its accompanying Brazilian-produced line. Gallery of Rock is a multi-story behemoth of stores in the city’s decadent downtown dedicated to Brazilian alternative culture, from hip-hop to cosplay, so they couldn’t have picked a more appropriate place to launch the colorful boutique. Named after the pet name Brazilians gave to their national soccer team during the World Cup in which they wore yellow jerseys for the first time, the collection features local artists Don Torelly, Presto and Jurubis, whose takes are fun, animated visions on the classic Blazers and Dunk Lows, plus tees. Eduardo Saretta from Choque Cultural put together the creative team. See more photos after the jump, and if you gotta get your hands on these surely limited editions, hit up Maze in Sao Paulo.
Last November, Nike put out a line of high top vandals in three solid colors red, white and black. Every square millimeter of the shoe was red, white or black. The overdrive of one tone of color was definitely a head turner. All three original colors were in a very limited run (hint: flightclub still has some). Nylon (the magazine) took notice and has now paired with Nike to put out five new Nylon colors. I can tell right now, these are going to be controversial. But if you can pull off shoes like these, it’s amazing, but it definitely isn’t easy. I still have a soft spot for the original red shoe, but I’m curious to see someone wearing these new Nylon colors.Â
British illustrator and designer vinyl pioneer, James Jarvis, has teamed up with Nike for a whimsical non-linear animation. The project was proposed and produced by Jarvis with the end result being, he hopes, “a much more equal collaboration with a brand.” Although the idea was to explore characters that were not referential, Onward, explores the subject of running free, and is inspired by Jarvis’ own experiences: “a favourite run over Blanchland moor in Northumberland, being attacked by a crow in Singapore – and also by the transcendent, almost psychedelic experience of the simple act of running.”
Notably, while Jarvis’ vinyl toys have been getting fatter (ie. Martin X and Yod), Onward features a slimmed down Lance Armstrong yellow “potato-headed stickman.” Jarvis, who is an avid runner, but suffered a stress fracture setback, said that making the video gave him perspective and “re-affirmed the simple pleasure of just running. Being injured, what I miss isn’t the racing but just getting out there and doing it.” The video is directed by Richard Kenworthy with music from Caribou.
In 2007, a tiny Brazilian sneakers blog started tapping into the kicks obsessions of its citizens, but as we are with most things, we were on their potential from the get-go. Two years later, it’s built up a veritable reader base, who head directly to it to hear first word on the country’s newest arrivals and to read the daily musings from some movers and skaters in the industry. Nike Brazil, one of its most ardent fans, has given it a flattering gift for all that dedication on its anniversary: to let it design its own Air Max 1 called the Lanceiro, making it the first model of this type to be designed by Brazilians. Pulling colorful cultural inspiration from the blog’s home state of Pernambuco, especially mangue beat, the state’s musical invention in the ’90s that mixes traditional maracatu and ciranda sounds with hip-hop and rock music, the Lanceiro is a real eye-catcher. Designer Fabricio Machado looked to the vibrant beads on the costumes of Pernambuco’s rural spearmen Caboclo da Lanca for the dots on the upper of the shoes and added in a speckled midsole to imitate mud from the state’s famous swamps. To switch things up a bit, the laces and inside soles are swappable for a version with the beadwork pattern. The site has full information in English on the development of the shoe including some amazing photos of Caboclo da Lanca, and promises to have information on where to buy the Lanceiro shortly. An inspiration picture after the jump.
Nike Brazil’s newest campaign idea, entitled “V Project,” tasked nine people from the worlds of fashion, skate and art to create their vision of victory. One of them, artist and skate photographer Flavio Samelo (who’s part of the ever-productive Baglione collective), tapped into the period when he was in a coma for a year and had to learn to walk again after coming out of it. It was an experience that he made tangible through a mix of concrete and photographs (video here). Over the next few weeks, the works will circulate through the windows of various stores that carry Nike in Sao Paulo, including Surface to Air and Maze Skate Shop (which recently underwent a nice renovation that incorporates rails and concrete just like you find at the skate park), and will be put on the website of a new Nike-sponsored magazine called Project Gudi.
I was minding my own business, working away, when the most bizarre care package of the week (if not the month, or year so far) arrived on my desk. I’ve known about the giveaway for the new Coraline movie Nike Dunks, but this was just bizarre. Check the pictures out below…
I’m pretty sure I ran into these new Nike Blazer Low Velcro Lux’s when I was in Tokyo a few months ago. Maybe it was an early release. I’m still kicking myself for not buying them — they’re lovely. Basic white, black and red colors made with premium full grain leather. Our pals at High Snobiety call it “quiet sophistication” and we totally agree. More pictures after the jump.
Nike Brazil’s newest campaign idea, entitled “V Project,” tasked nine people from the worlds of fashion, skate and art to create their vision of victory. One of them, artist and skate photographer 
