Nike is a vehicle for innovation as mush as it is a sportswear brand. No one has shaped the worlds of design, performance, advertising, fashion and the relationship between an athlete and their gear more than Nike has over the past 50 years. But global domination does not happen overnight, it takes a massive amount of trial and error to achieve that kind of success. With the creation of their new sub-label, N.354, Nike is paying tribute to their legacy of experimentation by using their vast archive of prototypes to spark the creation of new and exciting silhouettes.
Nike is introducing this new label with the N.354 "Label Collection", a pack of three familiar yet different shoes that are all based on an Air Mowabb prototype from 2001: the Drop-Type LX, AF1-Type and Huarache-Type. All three inhabit a simple and sample-like Summit White colorway, using a mostly bright white base with accents of blue and pink and handwritten-style "N.354" branding.
The AF1-Type reimagines the iconic silhouette as Frankenstein of style, utilizing a hand-made aesthetic to pull together disparate materials like a translucent side panel, blue neoprene tongue and a unique heel strap closure system into the familiar shape of the classic sneaker.
The Drop-Type LX takes inspiration from classic tennis shoes in the NikeCourt collection with its low profile, court-style upper and autoclave tooling. The mixed material upper features premium nubuck and sturdy mesh with an unfinished foam tongue and black leather heel tab on a white rubber cupsole with a rubber mudguard that wraps haphazardly around the heel.
The Huarache-Type revamps the classic silhouette with a white ripstop nylon upper combined with a blue neoprene tongue and a host of synthetic textile overlays that support the white rope lacing system. A black nylon midfoot strap wraps around the heel to latch onto a velcro strip at the base of the nylon pull tab. It sits on a traditional Huarache sole unit that has been modified with extra molds and patterned ridges on the heel of the midsole.
The Nike N.354 "Label Collection" releases in-store and online on Friday, June 28th @10:00am.
