Doyenne x Nike SB: Behind the Design
COLLABORATION
YEAR: 2023
PHOTOGRAPHY: ARRON WATSON-MCNAB
FULL FEATURE ON SNKRS
Doyenne and Nike SB come together with a collection that cherishes the multitude of states we live in. Embracing the change that occurs both within a person and the adaptation to their surroundings.
Inspired by women artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Louise Bourgeois, and Ray Eames, the collection celebrates traditional workwear pieces with active elements and recycled materials.
Carefully designed to adapt to its wearer, the clothes combine comfort and versatility. Reversible silhouettes with bold and neutral palettes embrace fluidity, whilst the iconic Nike SB Blazer Low is refreshed with unique textures, colours, and sustainable materials - pineapple canvas and denim. The shoes reveal a colour as they are used, adding an element of discovery to the ageing of the product and ruining them as an aesthetic act.
The printed painting from the collection is an original artwork created from a painting by Martina Giuseppone, which has been reworked in two colourways. We take colour very seriously, and this time we didn’t fail to pick each shade so that it can match with every other one in the collection, adding some interchangeable fun to the pieces.
When it came to designing the trousers and jackets, we wanted to find a sweet spot where timeless, beautiful, practical, and durable could coexist. During the creation of the pieces, we agreed that reversibility was the perfect feature for the designs to encapsulate the freedom of having expressiveness and timelessness in the same garment.
We chose to use a water-repellent fabric made from 97% recycled nylon and 3% elastane, to ensure protection and an added stretch for the comfort of movement.
The collection is filled with details to discover. One of which is the magnetic buttons that alternate on the jacket. We have integrated this feature so that people with limited mobility can wear the jacket with more ease.
With the shoe, we liked to think beyond product aesthetics and go deeper into the interaction and relationship someone can create with the shoe, particularly when it comes to skateboarding. For this reason, we added an element of discovery to the process of ruinability of the shoe by adding a coloured rubber layer underneath the ollie patch. This way the more you use the shoes, the more they will reveal the colour - making the aging of the shoe an aesthetic and personal process.
Underneath the laces, you can also find an elastic band that we added to make the wearing process more accessible and to allow the shoe to better fit different shapes of feet. The elastic band will hold your foot tight while skating and it will mold around your shape. It works as a slip-on without losing the joy of laces.
We chose to work with the iconic Blazer Low because they carry the timeless comfort we were looking for. We updated the materials for the body with forward-thinking undyed pineapple canvas made from pineapple waste. The sole is made of three layers of rubber improving the durability of the shoe, two of which consist of Regrind, a material made from Nike’s rubber waste.
As per every aspect of this collection, the under sole reveals a painterly marbling effect obtained from mixing different colour rubbers. The experimental nature of the process makes each pair unique, adding the warmth of craft into industrial manufacturing.
This project was exhibited for Milan Design Week 2023, as part of Fuori Salone at Tale Studio space for a special exhibition event.
