Rihanna’s latest Puma Creeper colorways are out any day, Raf Simons and Adidas just wowed us with the perfect metallic Stan Smiths for summer and, while Nike’s newly-dropped Air Presto Ultra Flyknits are the stuff of our athlesiure dreams, it seemed as though the sportswear giant was falling a tad behind on its celebrity collaboration slash fashion sneaker game.
That is, until Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing took to Instagram yesterday to tease his upcoming NikeLab collection, out June 2. The social media-savvy fashion wunderkind and Kardashian favorite follows in the footsteps of Givenchy’s Riccardo Tisci, who’s ideated several lines for the Swoosh. Tisci’s most recent collection, NikeLab x RT: Training Redefined, is a masterful two-part release featuring pieces in the Italian designer’s signature black and white color combo, along with stunning floral and kaleidoscope prints — but we can’t get our hands on it until July.
In the meantime, we’re happy to snatch up Rousteing’s kick-off collection for Nike’s so-called “Summer of Sport.” A quick visit to nike.com/OR (on your mobile device) and you’re free to peruse the collection at your own leisure —Nike’s really capitalizing on Rousteing’s loyal #BalmainArmy here — but we’ll save you the hassle.
The black and gold designs (the Balmain frontman’s favored palette) feature “classic Nike silhouettes remastered through Olivier Rousteing’s eye for elegance.” Apparel highlights include men’s and women’s sleek, tapered black track pants with gold trim lining the zippers, aglets and drawcord, a gold Swoosh-emblazoned gray and black crop top for women, a similarly accented classic tee for men and a re-envisioned iconic N98 football (as in soccer) jacket (the women’s version features an elongated silhouette so it can be worn as a dress) — all done in a luxe blend of mesh, structured knit fabrics and metallic embroidery.
As for the shoes, you’ll have your pick of the Free Mercurial Flyknit with its sock-like upper and the versatile Footscape Magista football boot — both ideal for training — as well as an upscale Roshe Tiempo VI in leather and the more quotidian Free Hypervenom 2, all done in black with gold embellishments.
Like most of Rousteing’s innovative work, “NikeLab x Olivier Rousteing: Football Nouveau” is definitely #goals.
