When he’s not busy designing red-carpet gowns for fashion stars like Rooney Mara, Adele and Cate Blanchett as the creative director of Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci can apparently be found dreaming up athleticwear for sports stars as NikeLab’s newest collaborator. (He’s a man of many talents.)
The Italian designer, who has worked with Nike in the past on sneaker projects, teamed up with the Oregon-based sports giant once again for a range of activewear for both men and women. The capsule collection, called “NikeLab x RT: Training Redefined,” will roll out in two parts, each with “strikingly different aesthetics.”
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The first collection features a black-and-white motif, while the second is a bit more reminiscent of the colorful fall collection Tisci sent down the Paris runway two weeks ago. A bold floral print (inspired by flowers from Tisci’s hometown of Taranto, Italy, as well as those in Oregon and the site of the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro) mingles with equally bright kaleidoscope prints on leggings, shorts, tops and caps.
In a press release, Tisici called the project “a little bit of a difficult process because to make something that is very dynamic, to do sport and to do activity, and make it strongly recognizable — a fashion statement — is not easy.” He added: “We achieved something that’s amazing. There’s a lot of sensuality.” The first batch of NikeLab x RT will arrive in July 2016, with the second to be released the following month.
As the interest in athleticwear as well as athleisure continues to rise, Nike has been dominating the field, collaborating with sports stars (Michael Jordan, Lebron James), hip-hop artists (De La Soul) and designers (Sacai) alike. Based on these successes as well as buzzy upcoming projects like self-lacing shoes, it looks as though the retailer is well on its way to reaching its goal of $50 billion in revenue by 2020.
