AW 77 Hoody

A product of amalgamation of histories, the initials AW represents Athletics West. Though only appeared fleetingly on some Nike apparel today. Athletics West was a revolutionary concept during its creation in 1977. Essentially a clubhouse where runners could trained to maximized their potentials for the Olympic games. What set Athletics West apart was Nike wholly sponsored it. A concept which predates what are now called performance/product test centers by some 10 years. In deference to this, the designers at Nike set out and partnered with Japanese label Loopwheeler. Long been a secret among trendsetters such as Sarah of Colette and Andy Spade of Jack Spade, Loopwheeler encompassed a craft, or in this case a machine, long abandoned by most manufacturers. Known as loopwheels, looming machines that were once common in the 1920s and 1930s. Able to create extraordinary soft cotton fleece, with some fans equate it to cashmere made from cotton. The machines were notoriously slow, moving on average 24 round per minute (rpm). In a day’s time, a machine could only produced 11-12 meters of fabric, equate to 8-9 sweatshirts. With the advent of faster looms and greater consumer demands in 1960s, the majority of the loopwheel machines were scrapped. With the exception of Loopwheeler, whose founders, through sheer determination, located the remnants of the antiquated machines. By matching the needs of today with methodology of yesterday, best explained by the owner of Loopwheeler, Satoshi Suzuki, a process to make “future heritage”.

NSW - AW 77 Hoody -Loopwheeler

NSW - AW 77 Hoody -Loopwheeler

NSW - AW 77 Hoody -Loopwheeler

NSW - AW 77 Hoody -Loopwheeler (Detail)

NSW - AW 77 Hoody -Loopwheeler (Detail)

NSW - AW 77 Hoody -Loopwheeler (Detail)