If you ask any type of sneakerhead what the most interesting sneaker partnership of 2019 is, 90% will most likely state sacai x Nike, while the staying 10% are just lying. however it pleads the question: Why precisely is this brand so hyped as well as who’s the mastermind behind it all? If you’re asking the precise exact same questions, then you’ve come to the right place!

Image via Akira Yamada
Founded twenty years back back in 1999, sacai is the brainchild of Chitose Abe. having trained previously with COMME des GARÇONS as a pattern cutter under Rei Kawakubo as well as later as a member of Junya Watanabe’s style team, the Japanese fashion designer later implemented elements of both labels to produce her own avant-garde aesthetic that all of us understand as well as love, earning her praise from the likes of Karl Lagerfeld, Suzy Menkes, as well as Anna Wintour.

Renowned for creating androgynous pieces, Abe’s style includes taking two products of garments as well as integrating them into one to create a sum that is higher than its parts. This unique outlook earned her partnerships from market giants such as The North Face, Hender Scheme, as well as fragment design. It likewise caught the interest of a specific Oregon-based company.

Image via Nike
Contrary to prominent belief, Abe’s very first collab with Nike was really back in 2015 when she linked up with their NikeLab division, checking out their extensive sportswear archive as well as reworking pieces for the contemporary era. Highlights of the variety include track jackets, sweatsuits, as well as running gear which were all decorated with a feminine touch, sprinkled with frills, laces, as well as fishnet materials that truly blurred the line between sportswear as well as high fashion.

Of course, we can’t talk about this partnership without discussing the extremely coveted sacai x NikeLab Air Max 90. offered in three colourways, the shoe was infused with Foamposite DNA as well as reimagined with a unique slip-on style, honouring the themes of expression as well as flexibility of motion that sacai is based off. While her handle the AM90 definitely left the market shook, nobody was rather gotten ready for what came four years later.

Image via Notre
When pictures of the sacai x Nike blazer Mid as well as the sacai x Nike LDWaffle started surfacing at the beginning of the year, all of us understood that the sneaker game was about to modification drastically. Taking the deconstruction pattern to an completely new level, Abe looked to the early years of her brand for inspiration. Taking two traditional Swoosh silhouettes, she integrated both to produce something that was unlike anything out there, with the former handling the blazer as well as the dunk as well as the latter totally revamping the Waffle Daybreak as well as LDV Fusion.

From the tongues all the method to the midsoles, whatever was doubled as well as stacked, producing a look that’s as unique as it gets. While sneakerheads were quick to reject the style at first, people were slowly however surely starting to admire the maximalist look as well as clashing colours. It was soon evident that Abe had produced a masterpiece that was being dubbed the “Pablo Picasso of sneakers”.

Image via sacai
After a ton of delays as well as push backs, the latest sacai x Nike blazer Mid is set to introduce on Thursday 10th October in ‘Black’ as well as ‘White’ colourways. For any type of other collab, a delay of this magnitude would’ve triggered hype to dwindle all the method down to zero, however Chitose Abe understands precisely what she’s doing. In an interview with business Of Fashion, she explained, “My collections are based purely on my innovative instincts. perhaps I’m an idealist, however I am a firm believer that if you’re creating well-designed products at the right cost that your business is destined to flourish.” as well as that’s what has happened.

We’re intrigued to see what’s next for sacai x Nike, however one thing that’s for sure is that it will go down in the history books as one of the most interesting sneaker partnerships ever made. One that believes outside the box as well as zigs when everybody else zags, that’s the reason why it’s so hyped.