Nike introduces a new Blazer Mid in collaboration with READYMADE

Ever since the extremely successful Off-White collaborations starting in 2017, Nike has been doubling down on the deconstructed, unfinished aesthetic for its recent footwear releases. The aesthetic was also heavily used to create the Space Hippie range that consisted of four models with a raw look, containing scrap and recycled materials to make footwear with a focus on sustainability. This Saturday, February 27, the Swoosh brand will release their next collaboration in this theme with READYMADE.

RECYCLING

The collaboration consists of a Nike Blazer Mid in a black and a white colorway. The orange swoosh stands out and takes its inspiration from the 1971 logo with a thinner and sleeker look. Unfinished details like the exposed foam and roughly textured midsole give the sneaker an intriguing look. As a nod to READYMADE’s upcycling philosophy, the rubber outsole contains about 15 percent Nike Grind material, a mix of recycled materials originating from manufacturing scrap and worn-out sneakers that would have otherwise entered the waste stream. Nike Grind started in the 1990s with Nike employee Steve Potter envisioning the shredding of old footwear and turning them into new material to prevent them from going to landfill. The materials were used to create surfaces for sports courts. In the past years, we have also seen the incorporation of these materials into the midsoles of athletic footwear and now also in this special edition Blazer Mid.

READYMADE

READYMADE is a Japanese streetwear brand founded by Yuta Hosokawa. The brand has garnered acclaim from the likes of Don C, Jerry Lorenzo and Virgil Abloh, founder of Off-White and current head of Louis Vuitton menswear design. Hosokawa saw an influx of substandard products in the fast fashion-oriented market, which was when he decided to create something with more substance to it. Using surplus military wear, all of his pieces were crafted by hand into something unique. He created jackets, bags and pants from existing products with original vintage patches and details and his products have been seen on the likes of Jay Z and Travis Scott. The brand was initially created in 2013 as an experiment but quickly made it to the Hypebeast-100 list for ‘innovators from all realms of creativity’ and is now sold in small quantities in stores across the world. As part of the Nike collaboration he also made a very recognizable chair for the brand with recycled plastics.

The two sneakers are set to release February 27 in limited quantities via Nike SNKRS.