NikeLab has been provocative style arm of the brand for the last 3 years, pushing design and technology boundaries through working with great fashion designers such as Jun Takahashi’s Undercover and Pigalle‘s Stéphane Ashpool (pictured above) for some time. Pigalle is a curated shop in the Parisian street of the same name, and offers a mix of streetwear, shoes and Ashpool’s own designs. His work is best described as Parisian kitsch.
Ashpool is a big basketball fan, which explains why Nike chose to collaborate with him. Most NikeLab collabs have been with designers that have personal interest in sports, or are somewhat affliated with sports. This makes it a lot more real and the design elements incorporated more function than aesthetics. Besides the NikeLab X Pigalle collabs, they also offer dual-branded Air Force 1s and Air Raid Silhouettes.
His take on the Air Shake NDestrukt that was a Dennis Rodman inspired piece is a softer take on the shoe. The slip-on ankle-height sneaker had been a popular model during the late ’90s and has come back in a few colourways. Using tweed textiles and Velcro fastenings, he softened the silhouette and reduced the volume of the shoe. It’s an actual basketball shoe, so you could play in it, though the tweed uppers and nubuck overlays are probably not best suited for the court. Like all Air Heels, it provides ample cushioning and is incredibly comfortable.
In fact, comfort is where the entire collection has been focused. Terry cloth shorts, hoodies and a 3/4 length jacket, all of which are unisex, make the collection supremely comfortable and convenient for wear. The slippers (shown below) are perfect for the local weather.
Ashpool has taken that further with his SS18 collection. Adding a number of fashion takes on the same materials, he’s given it NikeLab and Pigalle a distinct measure of what athleisure means.
The button-up sports jacket he’s wearing features piping on the sleeves bearing France’s colours and metallic charms that are stitched on. Nike and Pigalle logos and other iconic symbols of basketball cover the entire jacket. It’s a next step into what’s great about this collaboration. We’re definitely looking to get our hands on more of this merch.