SINGAPORE (Feb 14): Footwear with soul and for sprinting; new faces for Dior Joaillerie and Kate Spade
Going the distance
A retail version of Nike’s Zoom Alphafly NEXT% footwear is aimed for the 100-meter sprint crowd, while Nike’s Air Zoom Victory is designed for 800m to 10-kilometre races, with sales expected to begin this summer.
Earlier, the global track and field governing body introduced tougher rules on footwear for competitors.
Nike’s controversial Alphafly prototype shoes were worn by Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge when he broke the two-hour marathon barrier in Vienna last October.
“For runners, records like the four-minute mile and two-hour marathon are barometers of progress. These are barriers that have tested human potential. When someone like Eliud breaks them, our collective belief about what’s possible changes,” says Nike’s vice president of footwear innovation Tony Bignell.
“Barriers are inspiring to innovators. Like athletes, when a barrier is in front of us, we are challenged to think differently and push game-changing progress in footwear design,” he adds.
The NEXT% designs are aimed at maximizing sports science with design to boost body performance through technological enhancement.
The latest version adds air pods in the forefoot and foam in the heel. “The groundbreaking research that led to the original Vaporfly unlocked an entirely new way of thinking about marathon shoes,” says Carrie Dimoff, an elite marathoner and member of Nike’s Advanced Innovation Team.
“Once we understood the plate and foam as a system, we started thinking about ways to make the system even more effective. That’s when we struck upon the idea of adding Nike Air to store and return even more of a runner’s energy and provide even more cushioning.”
Viperfly incorporates an innovative new carbon plate in the shoe sole designed to provide responsiveness and energy, following deep study of race strategy and performance and runner’s needs over the final 20 meters of a sprint.
Victory has foam, a carbon fiber plate and a unique welded sole that divides the unit into two separate pockets, provides impact protection and allows for a smooth transition without sacrificing control.
Naomi Watanabe for Kate Spade
New York Japanese comedian Naomi Watanabe has landed a fashion campaign with Kate Spade New York.
The star, who is also an actress and a fashion designer, has teamed up with the Tapestry-owned fashion and accessories label to front its Spring 2020 handbag campaign.
A video clip posted to the label’s Instagram page shows Watanabe hiding behind a new, candy-colored version of the brand’s ‘Margaux’ satchel bag, her signature lavender-hued space buns peeking out from behind the accessory.
Coach launches ‘CitySole’ footwear line
Jennifer Lopez and Michael B. Jordan are putting their best foot forward in Coach’s new footwear campaign.
The heritage fashion brand has unveiled its new Coach ‘CitySole’ shoe collection of three different sneaker styles.
The shoes blend American sportswear aesthetics with the brand’s proprietary CitySole technology, which is designed to boost comfort and flexibility, while minimizing impact and weight.
The trio of styles includes the CitySole Court, a nod to the classic basketball sneaker, the CitySole Runner, inspired by the silhouettes of running shoes, and the CitySole Lowline – a fresh take on a classic minimalist low-top shoe.
Christian Siriano gets fierce at New York Fashion Week
American creator Christian Siriano kicked off New York Fashion Week with a gleeful mix of comics, cubism and glamour.
This season he drew inspiration from characters and emotions from the new DC Comics superhero film Birds of Prey.
“The whole idea was everybody has a little inner Harley Quinn in them,” Siriano tells AFP before the show.
Harley Quinn, the Joker’s former companion, is the movie’s main character and an extreme anti-hero who sways between good and evil.
The 34-year-old Siriano – who gain popularity after winning the fashion reality series Project Runway in 2008 – sought to make Quinn “more romantic, beautiful, elegant”.
And to do this, the diminutive designer from Annapolis, Maryland didn’t skimp on the sequins, velvet and shimmering fabric to make his creations shine.
It is par for the course for this master of the spectacle who added his touch of glamour with long robes, padded shoulders and opulent materials – velvet in particular.
The designer also took flamenco by the arm, using its frills and traditional Cordobes hats as well as – more daringly – cubism (an early 20th century avant-garde art movement pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque).
Models draped in leather and metallic fabrics strutted down a hot pink carpet wearing accessories like dominatrix-style chokers.
“Fashion is so hard right now. It’s rough. But this is my dream fantasy world. So I feel if we didn’t have this some of my clothes wouldn’t make sense anymore and that’s so sad,” he says.
“That’s why I get up everyday to do this job because I like the dream world of it.”
“I take a lot of risks and I think people are intrigued by that hopefully. You never know who’s going to sit front row, you never really what the shapes are going to be. So I hope that gets people coming back.”
A darling of the Hollywood set, Siriano is living a high stakes, high stress moment, with his fall/winter show in New York on Feb 6 and the Oscars on Feb 10.
“It’s the worse. Half my team is at my studio right now, preparing the outfits that will grace Sunday’s red carpet. It’s so hard. It’s the hardest we’ve ever had,” Siriano says.
Cara Delevingne for Dior
Joaillerie Dior Joaillerie has unveiled its new campaign featuring model and actress Cara Delevingne for the Oui collection, launching on Valentine’s Day.
The face of Dior Joaillerie since September of last year, Delevingne features in the campaign for the new Oui collection by the French luxury house which will feature rings, bracelets, and diamond pendant necklaces.
For those who fear that three letters may not be enough, there are also pieces with more complicated affirmations including Je t’aime and Toi Moi. Depending on the model, diamonds are used to dot the “i”s and “j”s.
As feisty as ever, Delevingne presents the new collection with a sequence delivered in different tones and manners. The first visual shows her bedecked with all of the collection’s jewels staring into the camera with a stormy expression.
In just a few seasons, she has become a mainstay at Dior, featuring not just in jewellery campaigns, but also in publicity for Dior Beauté. Along with her work for the French luxury house, she also regularly poses for such brands as Burberry, Balmain and TAG Heuer.
