Nike’s always been sneakers first, clothing second. Not that its apparel collections have ever been particularly lacking but there’s a reason that, at least in broader culture, Nike = shoes.
But a couple recent sleeper hit pants have lead up to a new revelation: Nike Life.
This extant but undersung clothing line has been around for a little while but hardly received any buzz, despite offering a solid selection of staples retooled with the Nike touch.
Perhaps the best example is an riff on Carhartt’s signature workwear jacket — officially called the Carhartt Action jacket — which is easily the clearest example of the Nike Life mission statement.
Note that this particular Nike workwear jacket was actually released earlier this summer but apparently proved popular enough to justify a restock, complete with refreshed web store imagery.
The actual garment is pretty impossible to knock. It’s a garment-dyed zip-up jacket with two pockets, a hood, ribbing at the waist — I mean, if you’ve seen that one Carhartt jacket before (and if you’ve been online at all recently, you certainly have), you’ve seen this jacket.
Still, the more the merrier, no?
Well, for $205 on Nike’s website, Nike’s version may be a harder sell than the OG, which can be had for under $150 on Carhartt’s site and even comes lined for warmth.
Perhaps the lack of lining on Nike’s iteration makes it more appealing for multiseasonal wear but, even then, vintage Carhartt varients are widely available for less than a Benjamin. Even Carhartt itself sells cost-effective refurbished iterations.
The coolest feature may be an accidental one, though. Nike’s product description claims that the garment is made of hefty cotton canvas but its details describe it as made of hemp. If it’s the latter, Nike hit upon something smartly eco-conscious, able to age with grace and possibly even sturdier than cotton (hemp is a wonderful long-term fabric).
If not, well, this thing is a serviceable example of the Nike Life program, absorbing a familiar silhouette into Nike’s ever-wearable repertoire. Now, about that next Nike x Carhartt collab…