ACRONYM®'s Errolson Hugh and Nike's Matthew Millward Speak About Nike ACG and the Effect It Will Have on Nike Sportswear

Buzzing through the blogosphere today is the recent announcement of Nike ACG‘s revival at the hands of the brand’s fashion-forward offshoot, NikeLab. Including a range of apparel as well as a pair of Flyknit Chukkas and LunarTerra Arktos, the collection is designed to meet the demands for mobility and weather protection in any urban setting. Having become the premier designer in unifying technology and functional style, ACRONYM‘s Co-Founder Errolson Hugh was asked to provide his expertise for the revamp of ACG. Matthew Millward, Senior Design Director at Nike Sportswear also provided some insight into what effect ACG will have on the rest of Nike Sportswear. While we will be delivering our own exclusive interview with Errolson very soon, read what he had to say below about his latest collaboration.

Our question was, what can we build with ACG that no one else can build? How do we ensure, beyond being technically superb, that this is distinctively Nike? We came back to athleticism, and the athlete being at Nike’s core. Setting the athlete down in the center of the urban landscape really brought it all home for us.

Specifically looking at athletes, there’s a stance that’s universal to all sports. In martial arts it’s often called the ‘ready’ or ‘neutral’ stance, and it’s a precursor to just about any type of movement. Your center of gravity is neutral, but it’s dropped. Your ankles, knees and elbows are bent. You’re in a kind of half-crouch, but you’re looking forwards.

When I was 10, I got my first karate uniform and realized I could do things in those pants I could do in no others. It became the beginning of a lifelong quest—to get some pants that look normal and can do that.

Millward, a Nike man of two years with a previous stint at Ralph Lauren, said that the innovations in this capsule “will inform and downline into regular apparel in Nike. Ideally the cut of the jacket, the cut of the pants, will be brought into the rest of Nike sportswear.” Following this month’s launch, further rebooted ACG collections—likely with more color—will follow in 2015. Of the wider interest in athletics-touched menswear, Millward said: “It keeps us on our toes. You are seeing brands such as H&M or Topman who are starting to catch on. That challenge for us is always to stay ahead…at Nike the sensibility is always to be looking to the future.”