What first happened in small-scale collaborations in trend circles has become the norm in the fashion industry with the impact of street culture on the lives of Gen Z groups. The vitality of sports brands and the cultural exchanges of the fashion industry can produce great energy and bring surprises.
Recently, Nike partnered with South Korean avant-garde designer and creative and cultural leader G-DRAGON to launch the nike Kwondo1 shoe, bringing the latest collaboration with Givenchy's current creative director, Matthew M. Williams, to bring the latest collaboration, Nike x MMW Series 005 Yoga Collection.
This is not the first inspiration collision between Nike and the two, the previous cooperation between the two and Nike has been very successful, and the current highly representative fashion ICON cooperation will bridge the creative genes from different cultural fields to each other, bringing more diversified fashion choices to Generation Z consumers.
This year, Kwon ranked eighth in Instagram's top fashion influence list, and this year was also selected as one of the top 100 fashion influencers of 2021 selected by Hypebeast for the fifth time.
While making good music, Kwon Is also showing the public a more complete and influential image of a trend culture leader with fashion and creative design.
Always express himself in fashion, break the limitations of the world, do not care about the difference between gender in fashion, so that he has a very iconic personal style.
As early as 2015, he founded his own brand Peaceminusone, through cooperation with domestic and foreign artists, let the public get close to art and feel the beauty of music, fine art, fashion and other various art forms. Later, the iconic little daisy bloomed freely in the later trend culture and became a representative brand of streetwear.
This joint name is the third cooperation between Kwon Ji-yong and Nike. In 2019, Nike launched the co-branded sneaker PEACEMINUSONE x Nike Air Force 1 on the domestic sales website to set a record of 0.06 seconds sold out.
In the same year, the daisy element appeared in various fashion items, and his circle-breaking fashion influence can be seen.
As the last co-branded shoe to be remembered by the public in 2021, Nike Kwondo1 symbolizes the self-expression that Kwon attaches the most importance to, and he pours his encouragement for the Z generation in the design of these shoes - the exploration of emotional expression, and the pursuit of self-expression, continuing the spirit of transformation and creation.
In 2020, Matthew M. Williams, who joined the French veteran fashion house Givenchy, is the most popular young designer in the fashion industry in recent years.
Although he runs a luxury brand, Matthew M. Williams's creations are full of trend culture genes. He has undoubted creativity and talent, and the personal brand 1017 ALYX 9SM, founded in 2015, has set off a "functional wind" frenzy, and the highly recognizable "safety buckle" design comes from its home.
He is also one of the designers who understands "data" the most, analyzing the scientific data of the human body through computational design, creating a series of highly futuristic sports training suits, and cleverly integrating the metal elements of street style and his signature logo into the piece.
The launch of the Nike x MMW Series 005 Yoga Series is the fifth collaboration between the talented designer and Nike, which focuses on yoga and is a comprehensive complement to previous collaborative series based on high-intensity training, functional drive and computer design.
The new collection is in line with the previous Nike x MMW series, bringing both fashionable and high-performance products to athletes, as well as Matthew's interpretation of mind, mind and mind – "The basic principles of yoga contain many great things that we can bring to life and enrich ourselves."
This form of collaborative co-creation demonstrates Nike's consistent movement value, and the design is a diverse blend of creativity, imagination, youthfulness and diversity.
Trend forecasting agency WGSN concluded in the trend white paper "Generation Z: Redefining Beauty": the highly developed social media has enabled information to be widely and rapidly disseminated, and now the Gen Z consumer group values the diversity of various forms of creation, and they like to jump out of traditional norms and embrace diversity from the depths of their hearts.
Like the non-sexism of Kwon Chi-lung's previous dress style that is willing to break the boundaries of fashion, Matthew M. Williams's street trend of diluting and blurring the gender boundary in his personal brand design, the value output of trend Icon and fashion pioneers is to reflect the inner appeal of the youth of the current era from the trend design.
In the design of Nike Kwondo1, Kwon Chi Lung calls on everyone to "meet every side of themselves, accept every side of themselves, and explore themselves to the fullest".
Nike x MMW Series 005 is also based on yoga, a popular form of exercise that brings people back to inner and spiritual peace. The design presents a new expression of movement, dialogues with itself in the new way of movement, and finds a lifestyle that is more in line with itself.
Nike broke through the traditional rules by co-branding the aesthetics of Gen Z consumers through the original basic stereotype of sports brands, and collaborated with creative people with cross-disciplinary influences such as Kwon Ji-yong and Matthew M. Williams to broaden the boundaries of sports with brands with their respective creative and fashion visions.
Attract more young people to participate in the exploration of the annotated book and face the inner voice, and this inner behavior is constantly externalized in the new movement, so that more people fall in love with sports and truly understand the significance of trend culture for the present.
At present, aesthetics are gradually relaxed, and with the growth of people's self-awareness, focusing on self and diversified development has made Generation Z young people more innovative and adventurous. In addition to eye-catching collaborative products, Nike and these co-designers from all over the world and across different fields celebrate the value of continuous innovation and boundary-breaking sportsmanship that young people praise.
We interviewed four young people from the Nike movement community. For them, Nike is not only a pioneer in promoting sports culture and breaking the boundaries of sports, but also a companion in their sports journey.
VOGUE: Can you tell us how you felt about participating in the NIKE X QQ Music Street Storm Contest before?
Kieren: It was my first time attending a hip-hop event at Nike and the experience was very different. There are very few national platforms that bring together dancers of different styles, and we're all looking forward to a second edition. And the brand itself is very attractive to us, a lot of dancers are wearing Nike shoes, such as the classic Dunk, and then the Air Force 1 will wear these will wear.
VOGUE: As a young person, how do you see brands using sports to talk to young people?
Kieren: I think it's very good, for example, Nike itself has a platform for every sports enthusiast. From individual sports marathons to collective sports basketball to street dance, in fact, it will pay great attention to each category. One of the things I like is because of how it feels to be a consumer; the second is that the Nike Community brings like-minded or like-minded people together to do the same thing, to share the joy of sports, and then to progress together, which I think is actually a kind of promotion. Nike's investment in the sports industry has enabled many people like me who love sports to improve and progress, and at the same time feed back from this group to the brand.
VOGUE: How do you feel about exercise for you? What kind of sports brands exist?
Kieren: Because when people sweat together on the sports field, or when I go to practice hip-hop, there's more of a feeling of blood, just like Nike gave me. It constantly provides us with new designs, which is more of a blessing for us. Just like hip-hop itself is a more extroverted form, when dancing will consider wearing, we must hope to wear a pair of new and good-looking Nike shoes to dance, to fight, to solo, so that the whole aura and feeling is not the same, which is also a blessing for our self-confidence.
VOGUE: As a big fan of Kwon, how do you see Kwon's influence on young people?
Tina: I think he's always influencing others to be more of themselves and show their unique selves.
VOGUE: How did you feel to hear about Kwon and Nike working together again? Which parts of Nike Kwondo 1 appeal to you?
Tina: The feeling of idols coming back, joining forces, and it's very impactful. Nike Kwondo 1 is also quite attractive to me, it actually looks like leather shoes, there is a very gentlemanly and very advanced thing, if the dancers come to wear, it is also very gentleman feeling.
VOGUE: What do you think Nike's influence on young people is now?
Tina: Probably for us dancers, Nike is like a good friend, supporting and accompanying us on the road of dancing.
VOGUE: What powers do you feel during the dance?
Tina: Nike has a slogan called Just do it, and I actually feel like getting more people to do what they want to do, to get them to try. It's not that maybe I'm not good at it, I'm not going to do it. For example, I was in the Nike dance camp, I did not jump HipHop, but I also learned some hipHop and Swap elements from the camp, in addition, I also had more courage to try some sports that I had not tried, such as yoga, skateboarding, to explore more possibilities of sports.
VOGUE: What's most appealing to you about the Nike Kwondo 1 that Kwon co-created this time?
Li Xianglong: The most attractive thing about me is the tongue of the shoe. The logo of this pair of shoes is marked on the outside, and Nike's logo has made a superimposed design, and at the same time, a small chrysanthemum is designed behind the foot, and you will be deeply attracted by it when you see this pair of shoes. Other co-branded models may directly mark the label, but the design of Nike Kwondo 1 you will feel that Nike and Kwon Jilong are not in conflict, two particularly harmonious existence.
VOGUE: What do you think sneakers mean to hip-hop dancers?
Lee Sang-yong: There should be a pair of Nike Air Force 1s for all dance styles. Feet are very important for dancers, and many of Nike's designs, such as shock absorption or some comfort designs, as well as appearances are particularly suitable for people in the hip-hop circle.
VOGUE: What role do you think sports brands play for young people?
Li Xianglong: I think Nike has been giving our young people some answers, and when many young people are curious about "when will we have something new, or if there is a more comfortable experience", it will immediately act when it hears this voice and makes new creations for us young people who love sports. I think Nike cares about us and can echo our presence.
VOGUE: A new collaboration between Kwon and Matthew Williams and Nike broadens the boundaries of the movement with their respective creative and fashion visions. As a designer, how do you see these collaborations?
Poppy: First of all, Nike's willingness to work with these young, different styles of designers is interesting. It's a sports brand in its own right, but if it works with people of different styles, it will bring different designs, allowing people who like Nike to see a variety of possibilities and freshness.
VOGUE: Matthew Williams excels at digital design and data, how do you see this way of using it in the design of sportswear?
Poppy: Every designer has different ideas, their creativity and design approach have unlimited vitality and creativity, and when combined with movement, they will present a new creative perspective.
VOGUE: What are your thoughts on creating your own brand?
Poppy: Actually, there are a lot of them, and I'll look at other great brands. For example, Nike has too many users around the world, and I think everyone should have one or two of its pieces, and it has been fully integrated into everyone's lifestyle. For my own brand, I also consider that the design needs to be more comfortable at the same time, and how to integrate it better into the lives of every user, I think Nike will also make me think about these things.
POPPYWANG RUNWAY@RUN HAI LANE
As these Gen Z say, Nike is breaking the boundaries of sports step by step, giving young people more and more opportunities to show sports, and under the collision of extraordinary creativity and sports culture, everyone can express their unique style in different ways.
Editors: Sibe, Tristan
Fine Arts: Roland