Urban Techwear

[scaramanga]

 

 

http://www.hunterboots.com/mens-boots/original-scuba-chelsea-boots/black/121

Holy shit, Hunter does Tech Wear. And it's Lovely.

[aso2004]

Nike Tech Pack M-65 is '07 >.

Veilance is '10 >.

 

fyi.

You sir, are absolutely right.. The reason I thought was true  was the in fall 09 when Veilance and Nike both had a Fieldcoat..In nearly the same color.. But then Nike has been trying to get a more dressed version of their athletic  stuff into their NSW line after that as well with hints to the tech wear market.

 

And mr.Willkhitie, I thought this was an exchange of ideas kind of place??  

I was expressing some of my fears I would have with Errelson taking over my only beloved left over part of Nike that is there still untouched.Pardon me if I spoke too soon.

As one of the original Techwear brands there was I think ACG has a legacy that you shouldn't want to alter, IMHO it was and is the place where Nike designers could go overboard on anything.It might not have come out they way they started off from but the freedom to bring that to consumers was there and mostly in bold colors to spice up the often monochrome black grey outdoor world.

Bringing Mr Errelson into that with his respected background was not a match I liked. As much as I like ACR as a brand on it's own it is not the way I would like to see for ACG. Another name would have suited better the way it looks Nike wants to steer this.

 

Too bad the rest of my fears also did play out the way they did..

Except for price point the collection doesn't add anything for me to the already existing tech brands out there.

Getting mr. Errelson aboard was getting him to okay a cheaper version of ACR imho

That might be relevant to others with no experience  with or people looking for a cheaper version with tech wear but not to me.

I buy the stuff to last me longer than a season and if I  have todrop some extra cash on it to do so ,then that is not a problem to me.

 

But I am still puzzled by Nike's move towards this

All that work for a dive into a niche market that still leaves most of my friends and co workers puzzled..

Mostly at the price point of the gear. 

Because  shelling out 1100 euro for a goretex tailored jacket while there is a 500 euro hiking jacket that will do the same job but is not as tailored is still a step up for a lot of people.

So this actually might do some good as an introduction. But wether after that this consumers will make the step up to the more expensive is still a gamble for especially future ACR customers. They already had a light version of the stuff at their disposal but at a much lower price point.

 

Well that's of me chest carry on..

[shadows]

I must agree with aso2004.

By the looks of it the collection is nice and all but no how we remember ACG.

Actually when you look at it the first time all that it screams to me really hard is ''iteration X of Nike TechPack/Pinnacle/NSW!" and not ACG. There are a few nifty features but the overall stylishness of the collection gives it more of a techpack/pinnacle/nsw feel then ACG which was much more outdoorsy.

 

The cut of the garments, the features, it all screams acronym but still looks like Nike. So the job is very well executed just not a revival of ACG. It's a focus-move from outdoor to urban under the ACG name in my opinion. (and in the story it says that they wanted that focus-move, so hey they did a perfect job. Just don't call it a revival of the old ACG)

[twizm]

I never think of black monochrome when referring to the 90s outerwear industry, quite the contrary actually. What ACG did was bring Nike's athletic technology and young-upstart enthusiasm to (initially) a lifestyle that some of their most talented designers were all partaking in at the time. When hiking and adventure were big on the design team's agenda they built apparel to that, then expanding to create more products for some very specialised tasks with sometimes very left-field inspiration.

 

I think that if the launch outerwear was done up in more bold colours some people might have been more impressed but I am lead to believe those options will come in line later down the track. Instead this collection leans more closely to the Acronym colour palette when if you consider the traditional etiquette of the initial release of (for example) sneakers then the launch colourway was that of the actual designer and often became the most recognisable simply because it best fit the whole shoe's aesthetic as it was probably designed with that in mind. There's plenty of great stories on that topic of designers and marketing getting into a tiff, something that doesn't happen nowadays thanks to waves of launch colours on new footwear.

 

For people aware of Acrnm then it's a bit different, it's hard to look at this collection without being tainted by "what could be" but for a Nike product there hasn't been much outerwear with such extensive focus on pairing athleticism and weatherproofness in this contemporary "casual" sense. For Nike it's a great idea to take the input of Errolson and apply it to a "pinnacle" range that will then filter down through the inline product.

 

Realistically ACG died a slow death in the end, it's good to see the name back and relevant for the modern lifestyle. I think this move was a better look than simply bringing back a load of Mowabbs in terrible colours and ruining the name in the process. There's nothing to say that moving forward you couldn't go and revive outerwear at some point as well, really you could make products designed for all conditions.

Edited December 17, 2014 by twizm

[shoreman]

Pretty relieved I'm not blown away by the ACG x ACRNM collection. 

Edited December 17, 2014 by TresUnCool

[aso2004]

Sorry  Twizm, the point I was trying to make was that under the ACG moniker the designers got a free reign. The product that I see here is slimmed down ACR stuff at a lower price point.There is nothing new to the line.. The boots were there already, the jacket is a goretex jacket. The funnel sweat will be from tech pack fleece so where is the "out there ism" in that??

[Inkinsurgent]

I agree with that, the initial editorial looked great but the specs are very tech pack/pinnacle. 

 

was hoping for the pants/sweat to be more performance fabric oriented

Edited December 17, 2014 by Inkinsurgent

[defiance]

prices up on nike:

- 2-in-1 jacket, $550 / £450
- tech fleece funnel pullover, $? / Â£160
- pocket tee, $125 / £100
- tech fleece trousers, $200 / Â£160
- flyknit chukka fsb, $220 / Â£175

- lunarterra arktos, $200 / £?

- responder backpack, $300 / £?

[fals3]

Heavier winter wear doesn't make it here much but Descente has some awesome jackets (that remind me a ton of Minotaur's N-3B but with better tech features).  The US site has a decent intro video but the JP site has better pics. 

 

Stretch waterproof surfaces, light->heat converting coatings, inflatable hoods, back "turtle-zips,"  deployable hoods similar to acronym etc.

 

http://www.descente.jp/allterrain_e/focus/index.html#dia3471u

Edited December 17, 2014 by fals3

[dystaind]

-

Edited December 17, 2014 by dystaind

[Inkinsurgent]

descente has some seriously skilled patternmakers 

[SuE]

Don’t call it a comeback! NikeLab ACG for city survivalism | 032c
 

Nike’s mandate to define sport utility within the city environment was set in motion by the company’s CEO Mark Parker, and the resulting collaboration has brought together specialists to look at mobility within the city environment – including Errolson Hugh, founder of Acronym, and Matthew Millward, Senior Design Director of Nike Sportswear. 032c was invited to the Global launch of the latest capsule collection in London for an exclusive insight into the on-going conversation.

 
ACG (All Conditions Gear) was officially launched back in 1989, but its roots stretch way back to 1978. Traditionally, ACG has been synonymous with hiking and high-octane outdoor activities. The color palette’s purples and burnt oranges that have run throughout ACG lines were visually reminiscent of climbing rope, giving an impression of strength and durability. Having always sought to break from the limits of the outdoor genre, early archive pieces such as the 1989 Nike Snowpatch Spire Pullover employed a more electric colour palette, emblematic of what would later be the nineties zeitgeist, breaking from the brown and black conventions of outdoor clothing.
 
But survival in the cityscape creates new equations and problems to be solved: intemperate climates, moving spaces, objects, and obstructions. From a design perspective, activity-based pieces face problems with terrain and climate. When entering an urban domain, you are no longer dealing with a single activity. Real-time design confrontations vary—rom riding your bike in the rain, to then ducking into a busy and intimate metro station for shelter. Environments change drastically. With more dynamic social and physical settings, designing sport utility items for an urban terrain becomes a question of how to seamlessly transition between a litany of conditions. Communication becomes intrinsic, with Hugh describing this as the “code in context of what you are wearing.â€
 
The ‘All Conditions State’ was prefigured as the ultimate mental state. “It is a state of perpetual readiness,†says Hugh. “Athletes often discuss about ‘being in the Zone.’ In the playing field, they are in a flowing state, everything is moving. This is the type of mind-set we thought ideally would be amazing, and we instil this in the collection.†Obtaining knowledge from the athlete, Millward and Hugh noticed there was a kind of universal stance that appeared in a range of sports. The ready or neutral stance is basically the precursor to all other types of movement. As Hugh demonstrates, “your knees, ankles, and elbows are bent. You’re slightly crouched maintaining a low gravity, ready to explode.â€
 
“It’s a biomechanical truth: to extend, you first have to contract,†explains Hugh, so encoding this stance into the pieces, to suggest this mindset when wearing the clothes, meant engineering a raw fit block. The fit block is like a car chassis. Testing multiple mechanics to get a silhouette that had no restrictions in terms of movement and shape produced numerous results. For the new ACG Tech Fleece Pant, they spent around two months solely working on the engineering, with over 15 prototypes. Millward, describing the response from athletes said, “It’s almost like getting ready for battle – like putting on a suit of armour.
 
The capsule exhibits key elevated pieces presented by NikeLab– the ACG 2-in-1 Jacket, the ACG Tech Fleece Pant, the ACG Flyknit Trainer Chukka SFB, the ACG Lunarterra Arktos boots, and the ACG Responder backpack. Anonymity also plays its part—a principle extracted from archive pieces such as the 1991 Nike Air Mowabb shoe, and its ‘leave no trace’ outsole for virtually no footprint. Like that of the urban flâneur – a person completely immersed in the crowd – the collection best represents the intricacies of the present with its simultaneously stealth and reflective abilities.
 
The NikeLab ACG 2 in 1 Jacket is sculpted to fit, with a three-layer Gore-Tex shell. With narrow cuffs that expand further up the arm and varying shapes of cut – smaller at the front, wider at the back – the volume extension reinforces its ‘ready state.’ Ergonomic detailing, such as different levels of pockets and darting systems under the arm allow for a full range of movement. Visually, it completely sheds its ACG heritage, but retains every inch of its utilitarian ethos.

 

With two versions of the jacket designed, Millward notes how people often gravitate towards the more toned-down, unbranded jacket. The question then arose as to how to keep the existing ACG mentality – its audacity – but bring it up to date? With a fully reflective exploding Helvetica graphic, removing it from its triangular framework and its off-centred swoosh, it’s a more aggressive form fit for dynamic climates.

 

Using existing Nike fabric technology, the Nike ACG Tech Fleece Pant is a three-layer fabrication of cotton-on-cotton, with a polyester spacer yarn between, deploying the lightweight warmth innovation platform at Nike. There are no superfluous details, everything is the body of its parts—seams are cut around the leg, and pocketing systems are subtly hidden. Without hurting the overall the silhouette, it maximizes non-restrictive movement, so much so that when taking it into Mark’s office, Hugh demonstrated his very own martial arts high kick.
 
Military and medic-packs are the epitome of function and survival. Adaptation is a means of survival and based on the Nike SFS Responder Backpack, the new NikeLab ACG Responder Backpack is an instinctive redevelopment of the design. In dimension-poly fabric that is extremely tough and lightweight, each quadrant of the bag can be split apart or folded flat, depending on your environment. Much the same can be said about the ACG Lunarterra Arktos boots. Adapted from a model previously seen at the Sochi Olympics, it has again been revised with more aggression. The ACG Flyknit Trainer Chukka SFB subverts the expectations of what protective footwear is, with hidden defender waterproof coating and a non-slip sole. Both shoes have an integrated system of Flywires that mould and weld around your foot as you move around the city.
 
Always coming from a performance point of view without compromising, the design conversation and collaboration will continue throughout the year, as NikeLab ACG develops more lines and charts yet unknown environmental challenges.

Edited December 17, 2014 by SuE

[fungz0r]

Yeah that descente stuff looks pretty good, prices are pretty up there though

[jbob24]

So anyway... How do lunarterra arktos' fit? I already have chukkas and had to size down one whole size from my regular 11. Do the arktos run pretty tts or do I need to make a similar drop??

Thanks team

I dig what they're trying to do with this collection and I've decided I'm a fan of all of it. I don't think I'm going to buy much outside the boots however. I don't see too much EH influence outside of the pants and jacket. The sweater is ok and the bag is neat but nothing I would ever choose over a GR or TAD bag. The shirt is a previously existing design as are the shoes.

The jacket looks fucking great, but I can't justify it when I've already got a bunch of legit ACR goretex. Somebody made the comment that articulation has been an excuse to buy $700 cotton pants for a while and I admit that I'm as guilty as the rest of you there I'm not sure if I can get myself to spend $200 on another pair of sweat pants that I know are gonna get cut into shorts

Good stuff, I can only hope they have more planned for the future! this is clearly a winter "collection," I wonder(hope) there is a similar capsule planned for spring with some shorts and jackets.

Yeah, how's them lunarterra arktos fit tho??

[fredokin]

Yeah, how's them lunarterra arktos fit tho??

tts for me with a little toe room, pretty sure untrue has a pair too

[conqueror]

'city survivalism'...woof.

[twizm]

So anyway... How do lunarterra arktos' fit? I already have chukkas and had to size down one whole size from my regular 11. Do the arktos run pretty tts or do I need to make a similar drop??

Thanks team

I dig what they're trying to do with this collection and I've decided I'm a fan of all of it. I don't think I'm going to buy much outside the boots however. I don't see too much EH influence outside of the pants and jacket. The sweater is ok and the bag is neat but nothing I would ever choose over a GR or TAD bag. The shirt is a previously existing design as are the shoes.

The jacket looks fucking great, but I can't justify it when I've already got a bunch of legit ACR goretex. Somebody made the comment that articulation has been an excuse to buy $700 cotton pants for a while and I admit that I'm as guilty as the rest of you there I'm not sure if I can get myself to spend $200 on another pair of sweat pants that I know are gonna get cut into shorts

Good stuff, I can only hope they have more planned for the future! this is clearly a winter "collection," I wonder(hope) there is a similar capsule planned for spring with some shorts and jackets.

Yeah, how's them lunarterra arktos fit tho??

I believe these are a modified version minus the bootie though, so that might affect the fit? The Arktos is a very hard shoe, if I didn't live in a tropical weather system I'd be all over those team USA joints.

[aleporte]

Ordered the ACG Responder from NikeLab Spain's website. Love the pants but not sure I need another black colored pair (got black apparats, slim dungarees, tech pack sweats, and a pair of p10s coming).

 

The 2in1 is also great but can't justify when you already own similar ACR pieces, for insulation I'm still not sold on synthetic. Stuck with a montbell ex light down jacket that I love, and merino, of course.

 

Chukkas are cool but I recently got the all white ones, which I love, but can also confirm they are slippery over wet tiles.

 

The Arktos where already sold out on the website.

 

What are you guys getting?

Edited December 18, 2014 by aleporte

[cmdR]

Aleporte, did you go down a size on those Chukkas too? 

[aleporte]

Aleporte, did you go down a size on those Chukkas too? 

I'm 8,5 on roshes and 9 in racers. Went with an 8 for the chukkas. Fit is perfect.

[cmdR]

Great thanks! 

[aso2004]

On the Arktos tip. Owning a pair I would have to say that although it's more work to put them on there is a plus to the sock liner. You can warm it up by wearing it if you're inside. Then put to boots with really warm feet. Strange to remove this tech spec from the shoe in the capsule collection that is to break new grounds...

But not to hate on the line, I did buy the missus a funnel neck sweat..

Edited December 18, 2014 by aso2004

[CB200]

The 2in1 is also great but can't justify when you already own similar ACR pieces, for insulation I'm still not sold on synthetic. 

 

Warmth for weight it's pretty hard to beat quality down, but it's a pretty big category with "down" covering insulation from from low purity and fillpower duck to high purity treated goose down with 1000+ Fillpower. As far as synthetics, I think one of the most interesting synthetics right now is polartec Alpha. Originally designed for the US military and made to be more focused on temperature regulation than flat out warmth. Unfortunately, I've only seen it built into more outdoor outerwear styled pieces and not (yet) seen it used in more minimalist or urban pieces. It would make a pretty great pull-over or shirt. 

[Method]

was able to order the 2-1 and pants... chukkas in peoples carts atm.

 

got 15% through discover too think im gna be happy with these 

[jbob24]

Well that sucked :/

Anybody get anything good??

Edited December 18, 2014 by jbob24

[Calbeee]

i got the S in the black/black 2-in-1.  i honestly don't know if i should of got the XS instead but i didnt' really have any time to be able to think

 

[drgitlin]

The pants and the sweatshirt.

[Flipflop214]

Got the funnel neck in sz L. I'm a true medium so I'm hoping it'll fit.

[jbob24]

I was chomping hard for those boots but just didn't have the luck today... Consolation prize: s6-c is less than the new ACG sweater @ end today so I scooped that up

 

I may have accidentally ordered the pants tho 

Edited December 18, 2014 by jbob24

[Method]

Got the funnel neck in sz L. I'm a true medium so I'm hoping it'll fit.

 

any reason you sized up for it? 

 

i just went with acr size and for nike i'm generally tts too.