Nike ACG exists since the very far away year of 1989. Then, why can’t you stop seeing this brand everywhere? Why is it that every time you go to a caption of an editorial to see the brand of a garment it turns out to be Nike ACG? Why did your cool friend suddenly appear in the office wearing a Nike ACG jacket before you even knew where the ACG initials came from? It turns out that the ACG initials come from All Conditions Gear, and that the answer to all of your questions has a name of its own: James Arizumi.
JAMES ARIZUMI, THE ONE TO BLAME FOR NIKE ACG’S RISE
Have you suddenly realised that Nike ACG appears on all of your radars even though it turns out that you have no clue what the initials mean? Don’t worry: James Arizumi became creative director of the line by the end of 2018 and, as a result, his revolution has been very recent. But no less impressive.
Well, it’s necessary to make some clarifications, because Nike ACG has seen this ascent as a consequence of its long trajectory in which has deservedly made them earn their fame as a visionary line in which several silhouettes that have been continued to inspire sneakerheads for decades have come out (like the Air Mowabb, the Air Mada or the Air Escape). Also as a consequence of the renovation on the inside and the outside that Errolson Hugh (a designer known for his work at the brand ACRONYM) injected in the brand as creative director in the year 2014. And, of course, we can’t forget another determining factor: the fact that the outdoor aesthetic has become one of the most interesting trends in the last few seasons to nobody’s surprise.
Without the convergence of all three factors, James Arizumi wouldn’t have been able to take Nike ACG to where he’s done so far by taking over Hugh in the last leg of 2018. In the end, the guidelines that were settled by Nike alone were very clear: they wanted less technology and more of a homage to ACG’s own catalogue. The best person to complete the task had to be none other than Arizumi himself, as he had already done something similar at the tennis and golf division (his first work for the brand) like in Nike SB (skateboard).
And that’s how we got to James’ first collection for Nike ACG, that fully dealt with the heritage of the line without forgetting that the guideline is to give to new generations a good collection of garments with which they can leave and explore nature in. For the first time, Arizumi has been using technologies from other Nike fields (running, basketball, football) and he’s been applying it to the outdoors. On top of that, he’s been doing so by finding the perfect balance between the past and the future in the respect of design. And, as it should be, however much these sneakers have been thought to be worn out on long mountain hikes or that other jacket has been designed to stay warm even when your hiking anxiety takes you to warmer climates, in the end, what’s supposed to happen is happening already: that we’re turning Nike ACG’s outdoors into one of biggest urban pleasures of the season.
