With 2017 coming to an end, we look back at some interesting projects this year in various sectors. Today: Advanced Apparel Exploration collection 1.0 by Nike. This collection consists of menswear, created by data-informed knitting technology.

The collection consists of nine pieces, created with performance data collected from athletes, creating motion maps. These maps were considered alongside how the body reacts in different environments.

Special focus was placed on modern urban environments, from the subway and the street to the office and the club, and the temperature and humidity fluctuations that occur in these various places. This examination provided additional digital body maps, the first with explicit lifestyle parameters, including a cling map, airflow map, sweat map and heat map. This information is fed through a knitting machine, creating high-performance garments that provide extra ventilation and coverage where needed.

“In apparel design, we have forever been combining multiple materials, depending on the problem we are solving, often resulting in the build up of seams and complexity. Sometimes this creates a new problem as we are solving another,” said Kurt Parker, Nike’s vice president of apparel design.

To create the collection, Nike used their existing Flyknit technology, introduced in 2012. This technology allows a nylon-spandex yarn to be woven in varying thicknesses across a single piece of fabric. A major advantage of the technology is that it not only minimises the amount of seams, but also reduces waste, as the fabric is knitted in the right size and shape without the need of cutting.

The Advanced Apparel Exploration collection is the first in a series of data-informed clothing ranges, so we can look forward to new collections in the coming years.

Photos: Nike