Just doing it, again and again

"Innovation is not about creation for its own sake, it's about creating something better, designing with a purpose," Mark Parker, President and CEO of Nike explained to an assembled audience of international press as he introduced the Nature Amplified design ethos and unveiled four running enhancing innovations last month. With pens perfectly poised and dictaphones desperate to document, this simple statement might have been lost in the pleasing product parade that delighted and dazzled over the course of my stay in Oregan. They weren't. As we were all enveloped and inspired by the all inviting swoosh during our tour of its campus, Parker's words grew louder as they echoed across each and every inch of their impressive HQ.

It had been half a decade since Nike had gathered journalists from all over the world together at their Beaverton base. Having heard countless tales of awe inspiring visits to Nike's state of sportswear, expectations were high and as they unveiled a quartet of products designed to enhance runners’ natural abilities and offered glimpses inside their Nike Sport Research Lab with air bubbles of innovation, we weren't disappointed. A princely pair of running shoes were introduced in the Nike Free Flyknit and Nike Free Hyperfeel along with a dynamic duo of apparel technologies in Aeroloft and Dri-FIT Knit, all guided by Nike’s Nature Amplified design ethos, an approach that is focused on designing for the body in motion and fuelled by scientific data and athlete insights. "Nature Amplified means designing for bodies in motion and creating products that work intuitively with the human body,” Trevor Edwards, NIKE Brand President divulged. “The footwear and apparel we’ve unveiled today is based on insights from athletes and runners at every level, combined with extensive research in our lab. These innovations are data-driven, but body-led," he continued.

After introducing the revolutionary (in production terms atleast) Flyknit last year and receiving widespread acclaim, you'd forgive them if, like many other leaders of industry do, they spent the next year or two subtlety tweaking the concept but they haven't. They're now pushing this technology and applying it to other models, for all kinds of potential applications and two were unveiled last month. The Nike Free Flyknit is the fusion of two of Nike’s most iconic footwear technologies — the compressive Nike Flyknit upper has been teamed with the flexible Nike Free outsole. The shoe provides the benefits of natural motion and a snug, supportive fit in a single shoe. 

The evolution of the Flyknit

With the above pair of Nike Free Flyknits myself, I can testify that shoe fits snugly, it's hugs your feet. Also loving the feet of runners and getting that bit closer, the Nike Free Hyperfeel is designed to feel like an extension of the body by minimising layers between the foot and the ground. The ultra-thin waffle outsole uses strategically placed waffle pistons for grip and feel, allowing the foot to get closer to the ground. Drawing directly from the Nature Amplified doctrine, the shoe that mimics the intricate workings of the human foot: Lunarlon foam replicates cushioned pads under the foot. The outsole protects like hardened skin on the sole. Dynamic Flywire flexes and contracts, inspired by ligaments. 

Feeling the Hyperfeel

Over the course of the summit, I was fortunate enough to sit down with Trevor Edwards and I asked him what constantly drives the brand forward. Given that he been an integral part of the company for twenty one years and seen tremendous growth and all sorts of innovations, he was perfectly placed to detail how and why Nike are never satisfied and to explain the latest developments:

"This mindset was embedded into the company at the very beginning by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. As Bill was a coach and Knight an athlete, the mentality of constantly struggling to be better was there from the start. Bill used to say innovate or retire. That statement rings true today. Mark (Parker) is just the same. It is an everyday pursuit. We all come to work every single day thinking how we can help athletes get better, there's always this hunger to improve. If something's not better then why are we doing it? From this, it allows us to remove any sentimentality about a product that was great at a particular moment time and instead we're thinking of solving new problems in a fresh way.

In many ways Nature Amplified is a disruptive way of thinking in terms of product creation because the common viewpoint is to add things to product but instead we're now taking anything that fails to enhance performance and experience. It's a purist approach. The HyperFeel is a pure form of product, we're using Flyknit but we're developing this idea of being close to the surface. The body knows, it can feel that sensation and it reacts accordingly. Nature has created the way we are, we look to add to that by making the product more personal to you, the athlete, you the consumer. Over time we can apply our knowledge and ability to innovate against specific problems, we're always looking at fresh ways to improve products and to innovate.

To reach that point, there's always a great deal of work behind-the-scenes. We are amassing years and years of knowledge that continue to build up and innovation can only occur when technology catches up with the knowledge, it's a case of being able to deliver. Knowledge, design and technology need to be at the same level That's what we were able to do with Flyknit. We had researched where and how the foot required support an to stretch itself out when it is performing naturally and the Flyknit technology helps us produce stitch by stitch. It changed how footwear is made. It has so many benefits. From a consumer perspective, it allows us to engineer the product to their specific needs in a mass way. From a manufacturing perspective, it reduces waist and brings digital knowledge into the creation of a production."

A teasing look inside the lab

As we bounced from room to room inside the all consuming campus, I lost count of the times I heard the word innovation. "Innovation is everything at Nike. It's the core of our character. We use innovation to serve human potential. It's the answer to limits," Parker stated in his opening summit speech. It was impossible not to swoon over the sportswear giant as it flexed its research and design muscles by opening white boxes containing next level products which were duly promoted by pulse racing presentations but it was Nike's insatiable appetite to improve, to be better that left the greatest impression on me. Mirroring the efforts of the superstars that they work with each and every day, they are always pushing forward, striving to beat previous personal bests and helping their sponsored and supported talents to do the same. Laurels or heels are never rested on in Beaverton as Edwards explains.

"Being here for twenty years, the great thing is that we come to work every single day trying out how to innovate, how to make something better. We're not interested in new for the sake of newness, it has to be better. Certain product innovations are a journey, we launched Free and we're now at this point, we envision that products will be based on nature - how can we continue to improve our basis by thinking along this ethos. That doesn't mean less technology, it means taking away the negatives and only adding to the positives, finding the purest essence of the product and stripping away everything else."

Matthew Miller's Manifesto. SS14 and beyond...

"I make clothes," Matthew Miller succinctly states as we beckons me into his brave new world for spring/summer 14 currently housed in DMSR London's central London showroom. "So many designers refers to themselves as artists and I can't relate to that. I just don't see myself as one. However, instead of me being an artist, I want to shift it and turn every single wearer into the artist. It's fun to allow the consumer to play a part in the final product." As all encompassing as it sounds, clothes maker oversimplifies Miller's pursuits. A disaffected designer, a textile theorist, a contumacious creative and a sartorial sophist are all far closer to the mark but the mere mention of any of them would make this design talent wince. Ultimately, Miller is a simple soul with a complicated mind.

For the last few seasons he has begun to challenge conventions. For spring/summer 13 he explored the concept of having to destroy something to make it beautiful and introduced it to pull-to-tear t-shirts and in subsequent collections, it's an idea that has been further refined. Matthew Miller now sees each garment as an experience. From catwalk right through to purchase, the designer considers every step.  The rulebook has been laser cut, screen pasted and masterfully manipulated in his eager grasp and this spring/summer 14 season sees the focused force unveil his manifesto.

Now his work whispers that un-sourceable quote of "artists create problems, designers solve them." That's precisely what Miller is, a problem solver. Now, having honed his technique and provided significant yet small solutions over the course of ... quietly successful seasons, the designer has begun to decipher the Miller enigma. "When I went to a NEWGEN meeting a couple of seasons back, oki-ni's Ben Banks said that he kind of got me but didn't completely understand my work. He felt that I didn't quite know what I wanted to say visually yet and that was a massive kick up the arse to be honest because he was right," he confesses. Taking this constructive criticism on the chin, the designer dived into the deep waters of introspection. "This season was a case of redefinition. My starting point was to set out a clear vision and message. Rather than just continue to design a completely new collection each season, coming up with an idea and moving on like I always have previously. The communication of objects, destruction and decay through individuality, SS14 is the introduction of a new manifesto for the brand.  It is about setting something on the path of evolution with the aim to continually strive to improve," Miller explains through excited eyes. This collection sees the designer lay the solid foundations of the brand and allow it to grow. Having looked at everything that came before, it was all about focussing the label on a fruitful future.

"I arrived at a new label. Matthew Miller has faded from direct significance. For me, my name was secondary. I needed to create a graphic identity that people would instantly recognise after a couple of years. The same as Nike's swoosh, or Margiela's stitches. That was the biggest thing this season. I didn't pass it over to anyone, it was my task and my task alone to redefine the label. I was absorbed into the graphics, fonts, spacing...everything. We worked up so many samples of the labels just to get the right feel and texture. There were no short cuts. I was conscious of this collection feeling like a luxury label. Basically, everything that buyers say London labels aren't, they often remark how much they love the creativity of the capital but are ultimately put off by price points and placement. For us, moving forward we will be carrying over entry level detailing, from collars and cuffs in our shirting so these were as considered as they could possibly be this season."

The rich identity bubbles throughout this considered collection. As the first slender, topless frame turned on its minimal stage of white, a familiar yet fresh focused force introduced itself. The proclamation ‘Untitled, Mixed Media, Variable Dimensions’ was scrawled onto pale backs and grew ever louder. The words were confidently echoed throughout a series of industrial sportswear brandishing the slogan. For spring/summer 14, the designer’s investigation into the technological versus the traditional took the most purposeful and confident step forward to date as branding is stitched seamlessly with ideology. Away from the political and philosophical broadcasts there were details to truly believe in with unfinished hems, exposed seams, cracked paint finishing, laminated labels mounted on wood and slotted onto the rear pockets of denim and wire rope and concrete combine to recreate duffel coat toggles. It might not have it on the label but spring/summer 14 is Matthew Miller. 

Backstage photography by Piczo, runway shots from catwalking.com and detail shots are mine.

"Everyone who has seen it has said that the collection makes perfect sense and have bought in it," begins the designer, "the books haven't closed yet but this season has already doubled on the last and we've brought on atleast ten exciting stockists," DMSR London's Greg Hewitt excitedly finishes. Ever since this design talent first came to our attention with his standout RCA MA graduate collection which explored notions of masculinity with a somewhat jovial approach to the macabre, we have kept an ever interested on Matthew Miller's continued development and deserved rise to prominence. Today, there's a noticeable maturity to Miller and a balance to his designs. The pull of creativity and commerciality are matched as Miller pushes on.

"When Topman start doing digital prints you need to work with different techniques. For this season it was taking it back to screen printing, I wanted to make it more hand made and that's difficult to replicate. The screen printing was overseen a good friend of mine, Caroline Carrig, I went to Uni with her and she works for Zandra Rhodes. I'm looking forward to working with her moving forward.

The range has been built up in such a way that stores can buy into it. We've been working hard on the quality of finish and pricing. Nothing works out at over £1,000 on the rails. It goes back to the Alexander Wang thing, you can't sell something as expensive as Balenciaga or Dior because you've not got their history and you can't compete, you have to work harder."

With his head done and eyes focussed on the future, the result is the beginning of an exciting business. "It's just evolving your perspective. If blokes wear t-shirts and jeans, how can I creatively sell them? How can I reinvent it? What will set me apart? Creativity shouldn't stop at the garments, you can creatively set up a business, you can creatively communicate something, you can creatively reconstruct something, redefine manufacturing." Matthew Miller is dead, long live Matthew Miller.

Discovering... Cottweiler

"It's difficult to pin down precisely when it launched," Matt Dainty confesses as he begins to talk me through the evolution of his shared concept-led menswear label, Cottweiler. "We had been designing and producing garments on a personal order basis for our mates and people that lived and worked around the area for quite a while before we were stocked anywhere," adds Ben Cottrell, the other half of its design duo. "We've only been wholesaling for two seasons and autumn/winter 13 is our first full collection going in to store. So for some people the label seems new, for others it's quite familiar," adds Dainty. Sentences might be fall from the label's mouths in Dainty's appropriated capital twang or Cottrell's West Country hum, it does not matter because they are always heard as one. From their small but perfectly formed studio squeezed into a railway arch in East London, the pair work tirelessly on growing the label in their own way and on their own terms. After first being introduced to the label on the rails of Primitive last year, my appetite to truly discover Cottweiler was whet. Serving up a feast of autumn/winter 13, spring/summer 14 and archive collections, the pair did not disappoint during my drive through visit to their studio.

"Cottweiler is driven by our friendship and what inspires us both. We've had quite different upbringings but there's so much common ground between us. We're both drawn to subculture, particularly British subculture and the label started as a creative process, an outlet from our day jobs in design and tailoring, Ben was on Savile Row for a number of years and Cottweiler enabled us to explore our love of sports and casual wear in a high end way. It was an organic process. It's stayed true to it. Looking back now over our first designs, there's been definitive continuation and evolution. We've not strayed too far from the original concept because it's been an organic process."

Meeting whilst studying Fashion and Textiles at Bristol University the pair were soon drawn to each another, swapping research inspirations and ultimately united by a shared desire to start a label with longevity that would challenge people to think about what they are wearing. Focused on simplicity, function, fit and fabrication, the resulting label deftly balances luxury fabrication and sportswear. Each Cottweiler collection is a smorgasbord of subculture, an intriguing mix iconographic references from youth movement, religious symbols, fetishism and the occult. In addition to producing seasonal collections, limited edition ranges and an ever growing made-to-measure client base, Cottweiler collaborates with cutting edge artists on projects across several mediums including film, photography and illustration.

"We practically spend twenty four hours a day together, we are always talking about next season, have a clear direction of what we want to do next. We are always looking ahead, sending each other images," begins Cottrell as he explains the effervescence of their design dynamic. "We do everything together, from bouncing around ideas at mood board stage to patterns and managing production right through to casting, commissioning look books and making the sample range here in the studio." adds Dainty.

Aside from production which happens in a little factory a button's throw away from the studio, everything happens in their East London enclave. The pair are enveloped by Cotteiler. From mood boards drenched in bubbling subcultures to rails of garments, new and old, the collective heartbeat of the label races on. The last four seasons of research and campaign imagery stand together in unity. Their ideas mingle, merge and push one other forward. Their an aesthetic authenticity. Their curation of amateur photography and youtube screenshots sit seamlessly alongside subsequent look books. From prison codes to scuba diving, joyriders and tunnel dwellers to ravers, look into Cottweiler's kaleidoscope of inspiration below and on their tumblr.

Snapshots of four seasons of Cottweiler's inspirations.

Away from the glare of London Collections: Men's spotlight and out of reach of the BFC's support (for now atleast), Cottweiler has forged its own path. First building up an enthused client base for personal and made-to-measure orders and then slowly but steadily adding a like-minded stockist list. "We've always enjoyed the personal order side because it's fun to offer something that's not on a rail and is made to their specific measurements," adds an excited Cottrell as he thumbs through an archive rail and imagines future fittings. "At the beginning it was the only way we could work because we didn't have stockists, there was no other option back then," confesses Dainty. "Now, it's great because alongside the key stockists that we have, a list that includes GR8 in Tokyo, Fragile in Osaka and Substance in California, there's a regular customer base who come in often. There's one guy who has the same cut of joggers in multiple fabrications, adding one or two each season. As the collections grow it can get a little crazy but it's fun. There's an investment, customers have to pick up the phone and come in to see us, the space could be perceived as intimidating in a number of ways so it takes a lot to come and place an order but it means they are truly passionate. For us, it's great to meet people and talk to them about product, how it's made and the thought and processes behind it."

"It's been gradual," echoes Cottrell. "We've not rushed ourselves to produce full collections and we've always stayed true to our original concept. Steadily the collections are growing and the technology of the fabric and finishing is being developed season on season. We are always looking to finish garments as cleanly as possible, minimal detailing. We look for supplier who can offer us something new. One day we'll have our own bonding and laser cutting machines," he declares triumphantly. "Fabric is so important to us," adds Dainty picking up the conversational baton. "We're both excited by performance fabrics and fabrics that still perform yet have the appearance of classic cloths. We've managed to build five core suppliers, some are in the UK and others in Germany, Switzerland and France, who will work with us in small quantities. The beauty of what we do is that we're drawn to a palette of black, blue and navy and most stock fabrics are in the hues we like so it makes our position easier, we tend to get everything that we want from these suppliers."

This appears to be the perfect moment to meet Cottweiler. Having lurked in the shadows of sportswear, developing and evolving collections as and when they've been ready to do so, the boys are about to step out as a fully defined, working label. Meeting the pair as they finish off production for their first full collection and close orders with their largest pool of stockists to date, they are ready to push on to the next level. Our excited eyes linger over the rail of autumn/winter 13.

"With a colour palette of black, white and carbon, Autumn/Winter 13 took inspiration from joyriders in Golf GTis and kids that live in tunnels under the streets of Eastern Europe," explains Dainty as he thumbs through the bonded tape sweatshirts, polo shirts that mix tech pique and mesh, tench coats in techno wool and hooded bibs in nylon and lycra before introducing me to the Aline and Jacqueline Tappia Reynaud shot look book.

Taking inspiration from Central European forest raves, Cottweiler travelled to the Czech Republic for spring/summer 13 to work with artist and photographer Luis Artemio De Los Santos. Consisting of transparent shell suits, stretch satin sauna suits and the label's signature oversized jersey pieces, the hidden wildness of Prague proved the perfect setting.

"We had previously worked in studios trying to recreate an atmosphere for look books but this season we went to Prague with a photographer that we both hugely admire, Luis. We shot the collection on street cast parkour kids who were all part of a group that he'd be documenting for a number of years. We did an online casting and spent two days out there. it was the best shoot we've done because it was an amazing atmosphere, we went out into the forests, had a couple bottles of wine and just saw them naturally. Rather than recreate something, we shot something that was as real as a fashion shoot could possibly be. The photographer has been a massive inspiration ad influence, he just has a unique talent, he transcends this trend of net art because it's quite classic and possesses an unsaid quality. We hope to be working with him a lot more. over the next couple of years. It's great to meet someone, like our filmmaker Nick, who gets it. His skill is editing but he's an artist, the films evoke a feeling rather than show off garments," explains Dainty. "You don't have to explain or force the concept with these guys," adds Cottrell succinctly.

"We've tried to develop the identity of Cottweiler without putting our names all over it. We are pretty anti-branding to be honest," admits Cottrell laughing. "That's how we dress as well, we are into sportswear but we'e not into swooshes and three stripes everywhere," adds Dainty. There is a subtlety to Cottweiler, their designs don't need a brash logo to be seen, they already stand out with their sportswear in luxury fabrics. They are just waiting to be discovered.