Poncho design “explodes”

A transformative poncho is the latest collaboration between Nike and Tom Sachs. The poncho has taken four years to arrive at this patent-pending stage of design, according to a report on designboom.com. Jarrett Reynolds, Nike’s senior design director for apparel special projects, developed the slim-line pack containing a quick-deploy and easily repacked poncho as part of a design challenge for transforming apparel. 

“We used a tear-away zipper for the first incarnation. It allowed for the “explosion”—the forceful billowing that allowed the wearer to quickly get into the poncho—but it was really difficult to set up,” Reynolds said. 

After two years of prototyping, the company turned to Tom Sachs, a frequent Nike collaborator, and with Sachs, the NIKEcraft transitions collection came into being. The poncho is made of a three-layer waterproof and breathable fabric intended to create maximum coverage with minimal size. 

The collection also includes a pair of down shorts, the Mars Yard Overshoe and a cap. The overshoe and case for the poncho both use Dyneema, an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. 

The NIKEcraft transitions collection launched in April in Japan to coincide with Sachs’ Tea Ceremony exhibition at the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery.