Pop star G-Dragon teams up with Nike on World Cup collection for South Korea
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K-pop idol G-Dragon (centre) worked with Nike and the Korea Football Association for a capsule streetwear collection.
PHOTO: NIKE FOOTBALL/INSTAGRAM
SEOUL – Soccer kits have long spilt over from the field to the streets, with big names in fashion having an increasing role in what players wear.
For the World Cup, labels have rolled out national-team gear, collaboration collections and boots reworked for the street.
One of the biggest collaborations unites Nike, K-pop star G-Dragon’s fashion line PeaceMinusOne and the Korea Football Association (KFA).
Called Tigers of Asia, the capsule collection pairs the KFA’s signature design elements with PeaceMinusOne’s signature daisy motif, framing the identity of South Korean soccer in streetwear terms.
The collaboration is part of a larger Nike project that matched seven national teams with brands and artists for the World Cup. France went to French luxury fashion brand Jacquemus, Canada to Canadian rapper Drake’s Nocta, and England to Palace, an English skateboard brand.
South Korea, represented by G-Dragon, is the only Asian country in the line-up. The singer designed the capsule himself.
Beyond the warm-up T-shirts the national team wore before its match with the Czech Republic on June 11, the collection includes sneakers, a black puffer jacket with a back print, a track jacket and chino pants.
The South Korean team warming up before its World Cup match against the Czech Republic in Mexico on June 11.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The daisy motif is at the heart of it and sits on the back of the national-team pieces. The flower is G-Dragon’s favourite symbol and the long-time signature of PeaceMinusOne. The familiar white-and-yellow daisy has been embellished in pink and sky-blue embroidery that echoes the South Korean flag. Nike’s swoosh is subtly woven into the design as the teeth of a tiger – the emblem of the South Korean team – closing around the flower.
The standout item in the collection is the Cryoshot footwear. Built on Nike’s archive CTR360, it wraps the soccer studs in a rubber outsole and remakes the silhouette as an everyday sneaker. It blurs the line between match boot and street shoe and is the piece drawing the most attention.
Tigers of Asia officially launched on June 16 on Nike.com THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK