LOOPWHEELER AW77 + NIKE Sportswear

[fame]

Old news for some. Maybe news to a few?

I personally think this is one of the better collabs this year. In a sea of meaningless collabs, its good to see Nike dig deep for this one. Made in Japan. Im definitely getting a full zip.

pics from Loopwheelers site.

lets discuss!

[Pandemonium]

they just expensive friggen sweatshirts.

[Guest heathunter881]

any idea how much this hoody will cost? my friend is going to japan in about a week.

[JayDC7]

i heard 250... ouch...

[efujobu]

yep $240 at Union. Thats damn expensive for a hoodie.

[midnight]

They make them sound so nice, but they arent worth 250 dollars.

[Dead_Wizard]

Opening Ceremony has the full stock of Loopwheeler collaborations. Pricing is around 210-250. Felt nice but no better than a CYC blank.

[jaspar]

How much do crewnecks + hoodies cost in Japan? The Nike versions do look dope, particularly the 'Athletics West', but I wonder if so dope that I shouldn't wait to buy a non-collab sweatshirt in Tokyo.

[readytoignite]

does anyone else find it entertaining that nike is now pushing artifacts of pre-late stage capitalism modes of production as a premium brand? can't wait for the wieden+kennedy campaign - "sweatshops - not as good as the real thing, people"

that said, the tier 0 lunaracer is the most insane sneaker of the year... roll on progress!

[ACQD]

http://www.freshnessmag.com/v4/2008/08/11/nike-and-loopwheeler-nike-sportwear/

[The_D]

Just got back from the opening of the London Nike Sportswear pop-up store in Shoreditch. They're charging 200 pounds (as in, nearly 400 dollars) for the full-zip Loopwheeler hoodies. They were offering a 20 per cent discount tonight, but that's still over 300 dollars. For a hoodie. I like Loopwheeler, but seriously...

[readytoignite]

converting prices in london to dollars is surely the shortest path to madness

[kiya]

I've seen the entire collection in person at Nike's offices and it's a bit strange to me because it seemed like 20% to 25% of the collection is current existing models from Loopwheeler but with Nike tags.

LW doesn't seem like the kind of company that would sell out like that, but it's obvious that even the big dollar speaks greatly in Japan.

I've spoken at length with the owner of LW while in Tokyo almost two years ago, and he stated multiple times that they're not interested in selling their product outside of Asia, and they're not interested in producing any more than they already do. This entire Nike thing is exactly what he said he DIDN'T want to do.

[sygyzy]

I am not sure what you expect. Loopwheeler makes extremely simple sweatshirts/hoodiesd. Of course it's going to be the same thing with Nike labels. Every shoe company collab is the same thing. Dunk with a different colorway = limited edition collab. Vans with a different material = collab.

[readytoignite]

^^ to use your analogies, i think what kiya is saying is the colorways and material are the same. so it's more like an oem relationship where nike gets to rebadge lw apparel as their own. it'll be interesting to see if this actually decreases the value of the garments to the actual (not target) audience of the range

i have zero personal experience with any of the parties or transactions involved but on the surface, the nsw arrangement effectively allows lw to sell overseas without assuming any risk. so i'm not sure if i would call it a sellout if lw maintains ownership of the capital and intellectual property?

[solebrother]

Was at Blends L.A for the release last night and bought the grey full zip. It came up to about 270USD with tax. A pleasant surprise was when I was offered an appointment to design my own kicks at the NIKEiD studio. That kinda sweetened the whole pie.

[duofold]

i have zero personal experience with any of the parties or transactions involved but on the surface, the nsw arrangement effectively allows lw to sell overseas without assuming any risk. so i'm not sure if i would call it a sellout if lw maintains ownership of the capital and intellectual property?

you've probably hit the nail on the head here. no one's going to recognize the little orange tag that states 'loopwheeler' on the left cuff. plus the distro on this nikexlw lineup is so narrow worldwide, i'm not so sure this collab is a sellout.

but the $120usd i spent on the lw full zip hoody purchased from gordon from big over a year ago seems like a good deal (or even the $130 i spent on my wife's hoody when at the lw store this past march) in comparison. but our tags aren't orange.(10)

factor in the fact lw is still not sold outside of asia (if you want one, build in the cost of a flight/hotel/etc. - proxies are still a treacherous unknown for the vast majority) and the markup intrinsic to collabs, and the $100+ premium becomes less unwieldy.

[Aku]

i'm curious, what's so amazing about lw's fabrikzz.

[Dead_Wizard]

The material is produced using a loopwheel machine, which are extremely rare. The material has an extremely soft feel on the inside; like french terry but it's way thicker and durable

[Aku]

i owned a french terry sweater once so i can't imagine how much softer this must be. thanks for the info.

[tradebark]

I picked up one of the full zips from Opening Ceremony ($240 + $25 shipping i believe)

The quality is very good, and actually seems better than the loopwheeler pullover i got from japan (which cost around $155 retail)

[neonecko]

Wow, I know its Loopwheeler and fucking amazing quality but goddamn, $250+?? Thats ridiculous. I'll stick with the non collabos.

[travisio]

so now i can screw up my brand harmony/synergy with one expensive garment instead of multiple ones. great.

[Westbrook]

Anyone in the big city willing to do a pickup on this stuff? Get@me.

[tradebark]

^^

it's probably cheaper for you to just order via phone.. they charge $25 shipping which i would assume is around what you would pay for proxy anyway?

just give opening ceremony a call

[Westbrook]

they're all out of the one i'm after, know anyone else who takes mailorders?

[readytoignite]

there's a store finder on the nsw site... just go to the shop, find what you want and it'll provide you info on stockists