Since setting up shop in the ‘60s, Nike, as it is wont to remind you, has helped athletes run faster, jump higher, and generally perform better. (“If you have a body, you are an athlete”, the company’s endlessly quotable soundbite goes.) Today, the Portland-based juggernaut hawks killer activewear aplenty—record-smashing kicks, next-gen sweats—but recently, it’s also expanded its repertoire to include clothing only tangentially related to sports. Case in point: the company’s newly-introduced Nike Life line, a collection that includes sleek canvas work jackets, sturdy double-knee pants, and now, one very The Banshees of Inisherin cable knit sweater.
If a cozy cable knit isn’t the first item you’d reach for when working up a shvitz, well, that’s kind of the point. Nike’s Life line feels like more than just a half-hearted attempt to capitalize on the athleisure craze—its heavy-duty knit is plenty flexible thanks to a recycled polyester blend, but it also mixes in a dollop of trusty ol’ wool for good measure.
What makes the whole shebang work (and not feel like an Instagram mockup) is its fealty to the source material. For the most part, it doesn’t look all that different from the classic fisherman joints popularized by dependable prep stalwarts like L.L.Bean and J.Crew; save for the tonal oversized Swoosh knit directly into the chest, you might never guess its provenance.
With every traditional fashion label coming for your fitness gear, it makes sense that Nike would eventually return the favor. We wouldn’t hold our breath waiting for our Beaverton friends to start snapping up real estate on Savile Row (though, you never know!) but if you’re already down with the idea of wearing Jordans with a suit, what’s stopping you from rocking a Swoosh-emblazoned sweater with loafers? Fellas, Nike seems to be suggesting, if you dig the notion…just do it.
Jake Woolf
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