The FINANCIAL -- Nike and designer Jun Takahashi meld innovation, style and craftsmanship
in new men's collection and first-ever women's collection.
For this partnership with Nike, now in its fourth season, Takahashi continues to pay keen attention to freedom of movement, comfort, and storage solutions, with concealed, carefully developed pockets that allow for essentials such as keys to be carried in silence. According to Nike, in certain tops and jackets, underarms are open for maximum ventilation. Many pieces have curved and gathered sleeves to allow for the most natural arm motion. Nike’s effective Dri-FIT technology keeps runners comfortable.
For Spring 2012, the Nike x Undercover Gyakusou collection uses lighter weight materials to match the warming season and have become even slimmer to reflect Takahashi’s own preferences during a run. Spring 2012 also heralds the introduction of the first women’s collection to complement the men’s collection, while acknowledging the differences in the female form and sensibility. For example The Nike x Undercover Gyakusou’s Women’s collection offer a convertible skirt that integrates a unique pleating technique delivering necessary freedom-of-motion for the female runner. In other garments, pleats and gathers across the shoulders, chest and hips provide space for movement but keep the pieces slim fitting, sleek, ideal for the female form.
Colors and textures that blend into natural and urban landscapes is a crucial component in both collections and remain an essential part of the seasonal Nike x Undercover Gyakusou collections. For the Men’s collection, Takahashi continues to employ the unusual textured gray heather material, which gives a woven look fusing the worlds of sportswear and business suits. As for women’s, strong but natural colors range through appealing shades of peat moss, olive khaki, dark obsidian and midnight fog, and also appear in the coordinating Nike x Undercover Gyakusou Zoom Elite+ 5 Footwear.
Takahashi is the founder and head designer of the sought-after Japanese clothing label Undercover, and a dedicated member of Team GIRA, a small group of Tokyo-based runners, who prefers to run counter-clockwise, in contrast to while the majority of the city’s runners. The name, GYAKUSOU comes from ‘Gyaku’ means wrong or reverse, and ‘sou’ means run or running. For Gyakusou, Takahashi draws inspiration from his own running practice—an experience he calls “meditation with adrenaline."
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