Nike’s Jarrett Reynolds On Authenticity, Performance Gear And Working With Virgil Abloh

Jarrett Reynolds doesn’t mind if you wear your Nike c/o Virgil Abloh running gear out to the club or on your next half-marathon. Either option, he says, is “awesome”.  

Reynolds, who’s the Senior Design Director for apparel and special projects at Nike, has worked on some pretty major Nike fashion collabs across his 17-year tenure. Based at Nike HQ in Oregon, he’s worked with Ricardo Tisci, Matthew Williams, Tom Sachs and Chitose Abe from Sacai. He’s also worked with Virgil Abloh a few times—most recently on a women’s performance running capsule called Athlete In Progress.

Set to drop worldwide next month, it’s the latest Nike-Virgil collab and the first that’s set deep in the performance category, inspired by runners’ unshakable endurance, confidence and Nike’s storied track and field archives. Parts of the collection debuted in Paris last September as part of the Off-White SS19 runway show, worn by athletes over models (Dina Asher Smith, Vashti Cunningham, Cecilia Yeung, English Gardner, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Nafi Thiam, Caterine Ibarguen and Rénelle Lamote).

The first drop features a run top, tights and a brand-new version of the Nike x Off-White Zoom Terra Kiger 5 in three colourways.

And while it’s all been made with serious running and sprinting in mind (featuring Nike’s signature material tech and innovation, of course), Reynolds does understand performance wear’s growing place in the world of style and streetwear.

“I think authenticity never goes out of style, it will always be around and appreciated and wanted and lusted after,” he says. "We know how people will wear [Nike] clothes and shoes, oftentimes it’s for its intended purpose—to run in—other times, it’s for everything else. If this collection inspires a girl who never ran before to go out and start running—awesome. If she wears it out to a club and she looks cool—equally awesome.”

As for what it’s like working with Abloh, Reynolds says, “He’s the hardest working person that I know.”

“He’s also super open, very collaborative and fun. It’s always just a really good vibe. He was out on campus like two weeks ago—his time is obviously really precious, he’s moving around more than anyone else I know. But he’s always so present, he’s open, positive and so hardworking. If there’s anything that I’ve learned from him, it’s that positivity and work ethic go a long way.”

This piece was published for Urban List on 23 May, 2019.

Images by Lea Colombo for Nike.