Nike x Maharam Horsehair Collection | Blazer & Oregan Waffle

T Magazine has a first look at Nike’s latest project with textile supplier Maharam. The
collection emphasizes “the relationship between the way a sneaker looks and how it feels.”

“With these $250 sneaks, Michael Maharam shot for what he calls “restrained opulence,” choosing a luxurious but underused fabric, horsehair. Nike calls horsehair “a renewable resource” because it’s clipped painlessly from the horse’s tail,
but Maharam concedes that horsehair is not a practical replacement for everyday fabrics. “It grows slowly, is woven on arcane Victorian-era looms at a tedious pace, and costs a fortune,” he says.

The Nike x Maharam collection features three classic weaves — basket, check, and striae — on two of Nike’s easily recognizable (grace à swoosh) sneaker silhouettes, the high-top Blazer and the low-top Oregon Waffle.”