This summer Nike and Tank decided to bring together new talents from the worlds of sport and fashion for an exciting collaboration. They invited six of the best up-and-coming designers in the UK to redesign and customise Nike’s N98 Track Jacket using six of the best young British athletes as their design muses – from 2012 Olympic hopefuls to a shining star of the England rugby team.
Photography by Errol Rainey
Styling by Chloe Kerman
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey X SIBLING
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, a 21-year-old who can run 100 metres in 10.10 seconds, inspired the customised jacket by knitwear designers SIBLING (Joe Bates, Sid Bryan and Cozette McCreery). “SIBLING always has some sort of skull, bright colours and patterns,” says Bryan, “and the image of running skeletons seemed perfect for a sprinter, so we knitted it.” McCreery explains, “We came up with our initial ideas after looking at images of Harry running, and we made a mood board, including a Jean-Paul Goude photograph of Grace Jones where she’s in a classic arabesque shape.” Harry, a fashion fanatic and extrovert, loves the bold sporting colours flashing across black, and says, “I’ve never seen knitwear that looks as explosive as this.”
Ashlee Nelson X Felder Felder
Ashlee Nelson, 19-year-old world junior silver medallist and fashion-design student, was excited about being the muse for Felder Felder – identical twins Annette and Daniela Felder – having been aware of their design work from her fashion studies. “We are known for our play on hard and softly constructed clothing,” says Annette, “and wanted to bring to life the royal cool of the 2012 Olympics, and make the garment part of a victory moment, but with added femininity. We wanted to create a lot of volume, but in a soft way, and obviously with Ashlee being a sprinter we wanted to have movement in the garment shown by the extended draping fabric.”
Martyn Rooney X Katie Eary
Twenty-three-year-old Martyn Rooney, a 400 metre sprinter who made the Beijing Olympic finals, was paired with menswear designer Katie Eary. Rooney is eager to embrace his new serpentine look and says, “Katie’s addition of a hood with snake fangs, and plastic scales over the top of her print, adds a really great 3D element to the design. It’s bold and physical.” Eary explains, “I was looking at the whole idea of an athlete, of perfection, and I thought about muscle. Rooney’s physique has no fat, which led me to the snake, which is essentially just a muscle. So I took the N98 jacket and kept all of the core elements, like the zip and the structure. I kept the skeletal structure and took away the flesh, adding my snake print and plastic scales in certain places across the garment.”
Charlotte Purdue X Hannah Marshall
Hannah Marshall designed a deconstructed dress for 19-year-old distance runner Charlotte Purdue, who competes in events ranging from 800 metres to 10,000 metres. “The dress that I made for Charlotte,” says Marshall, “uses the same kind of concept as the autumn/winter 2010 collection, which is based on body modification with lots of slashes and cut-outs. I used six Nike N98 jackets and reconstructed them so the zip leads down the back, instead of the front like the original jacket. I played around with remoulding it into a really body-con style that retains a sports fabric, but is more movement-restrictive in its design – introducing a direct juxtaposition to Charlotte’s discipline.” Purdue admits, “I don’t usually wear stuff like this. I train hard, so I’m not given the opportunity to wear dresses that much. I only usually feel comfortable in sportswear and technical fabrics, but I really like how this transforms a jacket into a dress.”
Danny Care X Tim Soar
Tim Soar, the avant-garde menswear designer known for his use of leather and unusual takes on traditional tailoring, customised the N98 jacket for 23-year-old England and Harlequins scrum half, Danny Care. Soar explains that the usual male aesthetic and body-form for his collections are the opposite of Care’s silhouette. The challenge therefore was to marry his highly tailored design with a sportswear icon and reinterpret it for an athlete of Care’s stature. “The immediate thought was to make something desirable and iconic that would still fulfil the function of being sportswear,” says Soar. “Leather is a technical fabric it breathes and has movement so applying the idea of a leather tracksuit to the N98 Jacket sprang to mind.” Care says of the design, “It’s an interesting concept to use leather and relaxed tailoring for a traditional sportswear jacket – I really love it.”
Jodie Williams X Julian J Smith
16-year-old sprinter Jodie Williams, the first female athlete to ever win the 100 metre and 200 metre double at the World Youth Championships, inspired Julian J Smith’s design. The youngest of the designers, Smith’s womenswear collections and their youthful and futuristic print work have been met with much acclaim. He explains his take on the N98: “I wanted it to exude a winning attitude and to have these enhanced shoulders that give an uplifted quality. It’s about that moment when you’ve won gold. Jodie’s a sprinter so I wanted it to have a really dynamic feel, I was thinking about Japanese manga.” And Williams approves of her new anime-inspired look, exclaiming, “It makes you feel really powerful.”
