Riccardo Tisci’s latest work with NikeLab aims to propel contemporary sports style into a new, more elegant era. The Italian fashion designer draws from the past, combining different generations of sportswear icons (the collection includes an Oxford shirt, track pant and varsity jacket) to form a collection of four distinct pieces for men, three for women and a series of accessories.
While the players cement styles through on-court heroics, those who adopt certain silhouettes make those shoes icons. In this context, the Nike Air Force 1 is an undisputed favorite. It’s also Tisci’s go-to shoe. “I’m obsessed with the shoe,” he says. “It’s very clean and pure, but at the same time elaborate. It’s the shoe that best represents my style and my collaboration with Nike,” he says.
“In the 90s, basketball players became kind of like rock stars,” he says. “But now, they are more than rock stars. They’re superhuman — representative of historic mythology.”
The NikeLab x RT Victorious Minotaurs collection launched October 12 in North America, October 20 in Paris and October 21 globally at NikeLab stores and nike.com/nikelab.
