Vice Style

Katie Eary is a London-based menswear designer whose last collection consisted of, amongst other product, crazy fake croc and Day-Glo sportswear. Katie spends a lot of time thinking about what makes lads so laddy and her Spring/Summer 2011 collection is inspired by “boxing, football and fear”, apparently. For Nike Running, Katie customized Nike’s Lunar Glide 2’s and some running apparel, including a hat and jacket in a cheetah print, which represents the fastest animal on Earth and also signifies the single-minded animal power that running can unleash. This isn’t the first time she’s worked with Nike on animal-inspired running apparel, Katie dressed sprinter Martin Rooney in a snakeskin print jacket, because both are sort of lean and powerful.

Vice: How has collaborating on Nike Running, affected the way you feel about the sport?
Katie Eary: This project has made me think about my health a lot more, I'm definitely going to try and integrate exercise into my daily plans!

Having cited "boxing, football and fear" as inspiration, what’s your take on the way sport and menswear influence each other?
It's all about the cut. I like to create bold statement pieces with the fabrics I use, but then teamed with a sportier 'street' cut. It means bold and wearable can work well together. Sports go hand in hand with the guys I design for: young and energetic guys, with a love for aggressive sports, something that can release all the stress and pent-up emotion they feel they have to keep inside to keep face. Running appeals as a sport because it’s all about speed and working to set goals, and so many people use it to center themselves.

Are London’s street runners people you looked at?
I thought about the sort of lad I have as a muse, and what he is running for, or from, more than likely running away from trouble, running for his life. I started to then think 'survival of the fittest', whoever he is running from, he has to know where he is going and that he has to be the fastest. So, for my Nike Running collaboration I was focused on the cheetah; the fastest animal on the planet, so that’s the print I used to customize the Nike Running gear.

In general how does living in the big city affect your work?
Far-out east in Plaistow, there are no rich kids pretending to be poor. It's 100% real. I try to walk around Shoreditch with my eyes shut, as it's just become so ridiculous these days. You just see a lot more when you’re further out of town. The last time I caught a bus from Hackney to Dalston, I saw a woman with claw rainbow nails on her feet!

To win your place in the run on Nov 3, as well as the VICE Nike LunarGlide 2 trainers and shiny new Nike Running kit, email us with your favourite running route, and your shoe and kit sizes, here.

CHARLET DUBOC