Following their announcement last week of the impending return of ACG, NikeLab officially unveils the inaugural collection of NikeLab ACG. Created over 30 years ago to provide protection and performance in all conditions, Nike ACG is reborn as NikeLab ACG to deliver sport utility for the city. Including outerwear, footwear and portable storage, the collection is designed to meet the demands for mobility and weather protection in any urban setting.

Bringing together the Swoosh’s greatest innovations, ACG combines Nike Tech Fleece, Nike Dri-FIT Wool and Nike Flyknit with Acronym designer Errolson Hugh’s knowledge of fit, apparel construction and the functionality needed for everyday life. Working together, Hugh and Nike designers reassessed contemporary athletic needs by challenging convention. In Hugh’s words:

“Our question was, what can we build with ACG that no one else can build? How do we ensure, beyond being technically superb, that this is distinctively Nike? We came back to athleticism, and the athlete being at Nike’s core. Setting the athlete down in the center of the urban landscape really brought it all home for us.”

“Specifically looking at athletes, there’s a stance that’s universal to all sports. In martial arts it’s often called the ‘ready’ or ‘neutral’ stance, and it’s a precursor to just about any type of movement. Your center of gravity is neutral, but it’s dropped. Your ankles, knees and elbows are bent. You’re in a kind of half-crouch, but you’re looking forwards. For ACG, we drafted the fit block with that posture rather than the typical straight-limbed static one. Readiness is physically encoded into the silhouette of the collection. We call it the all conditions fit because it suggests the ability to transition to any movement and to any situation.”

For the ACG collection, Hugh and the Nike design team developed the “all conditions fit,” a structure built to encourage mental and physical readiness, while minimizing restriction. A martial arts enthusiast himself, Hugh let on:Every detail in the collection is accounted for, from the range of motion a jacket or pants provide to the placement of pockets and their ability to store items such as cell phones, laptops and notebooks. The utilitarian premise of the collection means that each piece stand up as well flying across a bridge on a bicycle as it would aesthetically. Engineered around movement, the architectural silhouettes have an innate elegance. Paired with a dark color palette and reflective logos, the collection transitions between muted and more visible as needed. The new collection enables the body in motion and conceals the tools of urban life to remain minimal, clean and architecturally sculpted.

Altogether, the first release includes the ACG 2-in-1 men’s jacket, ACG Tech Fleece men’s pants, ACG Tech Fleece Funnel men’s sweatshirt, ACG Pocket men’s T-shirt, ACG Flyknit Trainer Chukka SFB, ACG Lunarterra Arktos and the ACG Responder backpack.

Look for the NikeLab ACG collection to launch on December 18 at nike.com/nikelab in North America, Western Europe and Japan. The collection will also be available at the following retail locations: NikeLab 21 Mercer NYC, NikeLab DSM NYC, Niketown New York, NikeLab 1948 LDN, NikeLab DSM LDN, NikeLab P75 Paris, NikeLab LNZ1 Milan and NikeLab DSM Ginza in Tokyo.

Shop the collection now here.

Watch our video interview with the two designers here.

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Words by Brock Cardiner Editorial Director, LA Brock Cardiner is Highsnobiety's LA Editorial Director. He oversees Highsnobiety's editorial initiatives on the West Coast.