A Thread about essentialism in the New Mexico desert
A monument to running and more easter eggs from Japan
Last week, I told you about the surprising synergies between my trip to Japan and my visit to Santa Fe. If you’ve read it, you might be wondering what I was doing in New Mexico in the first place.
I’d been invited there by adidas for the relaunch of their Equipment (EQT) line, a label that was originally created in the early 90s. I’d received the invitation soon after my arrival in Japan, still in a jet lag fugue state. The details were shrouded in mystery, but I knew that it was masterminded by Playlab, the LA-based design studio behind many of Virgil Abloh’s Louis Vuitton shows. (Archie, one of the Playlab co-founders later told me he’d worked closely with Threads of Conversation alum Caleb Femi, who was also one of Abloh’s collaborators at LV).
Fast forward a few weeks, and I’m staring out of a plane window at the zig zagging expanse of rocky American desert, armed with the address of the hotel and the cryptic information that I’d been invited to experience ‘a monument to sport’. What could it be?
Landing at Albuquerque airport, I was met by the local production team, who took me to the hotel, a beautiful lodge surrounded by endless rows of glowing ‘Luminaria’ lights. There, I was greeted by the adidas team, who gave me a warm welcome (and some warm EQT gear - turns out the desert gets very cold at night. I was still living out of the same suitcase I’d been hauling around Japan and South Korea for three weeks, so definitely wasn’t prepared.) I retired to my room with plans to watch the Martha Stewart documentary, but melted into a deep sleep instead.
The following day was free for us to explore Santa Fe. I joined up with another guest, Phil Leyesa, aka. Philllllthy, an NYC designer who specialises in one-off customisation and upcycled pieces. We decided to visit the Georgia O’Keeffe museum, and then the visvim store, where we ran into Sam Trotman - better known by his Instagram handle, @samutaro, where he documents the history of various subcultures and style tribes. That evening, we met the rest of the crew for a welcome dinner, followed by a DJ set from Esta.
At breakfast the next day, there was excitement in the air. The reveal was planned for that afternoon, although we still didn’t know what it would be. Before we headed out into the desert, we were treated to a presentation of vintage EQT pieces in mint condition, specially sourced by a rep from Sabukaru, a Tokyo-based magazine.
In my last newsletter, I mentioned how reminders of my trip to Japan seemed to follow me all the way to Santa Fe. It seemed there were a few more to come.
Another guest on the trip was the editor of Popeye magazine, one of Japan’s most popular menswear magazines, which I’d bought a copy of two weeks earlier at Tsutaya Books in Daikanyama.
The magazine was founded in 1976 by Yoshihisa Kinameri and Jirō Ishikawa, after they created a magazine about American ski culture called ‘Ski Life’ and an encyclopaedia of American products called ‘Made in U.S.A’. Both magazines were hugely successful, and cemented Japan’s love of American style in the postwar period. So it felt apt to meet the current editor on a trip to the USA, centred around sporting culture and the great American outdoors.
More synchronicity transpired when I got chatting to Nic Galway from the adidas team. Nic is the kind of person I think of as a ‘secret influencer’ - he has that Rick Rubin-esque vibe of someone with a lifetime of accrued creative wisdom. The people whose work appears in your daily life, even if you might not know their name. His official title is SVP of Creative Direction, and he’s the designer behind many of adidas’ greatest hits, including collaborations with Pharrell, Raf Simons, Rick Owens, Stella McCartney, Yohji Yamamoto and Yeezy, alongside the reissue of iconic models like the Superstars and the Gazelles.
We were discussing his work with Yohji Yamamoto, with whom he developed the Y-3 line, and I told him that in my past life as a model, I’d walked a Yohji show. It turns out he was there! This also reminded me that my first ever runway show, Jacquemus’ ‘La Femme Enfant’ collection, was styled with adidas Superstars.
After the vintage presentation, we gathered in the parking lot, ready to be whisked away for The Big Reveal. On the drive, I sat next to a Canadian designer, Colin Meredith, a self-proclaimed ‘sewing guy’ who makes outdoor gear informed by his love of trail running. I also chatted to a New Mexican artist called Maida Branch, who told me more about the region and its history. We compared notes on our time living in New York in the 2010s - she had moved back to Santa Fe with her partner after many years in the city. Together, they now have a farm and run MAIDA, a collective of Indigenous and Indo-hispano artists creating jewellery, ceramics and other objects.
The journey took about an hour, weaving through rocky crags and snowy mountain roads. Eventually we arrived at a picnic lunch in Valles Caldera natural preserve. We were seated in front of a large field covered in snow, which the park ranger told us was actually the remains of a volcanic eruption, which had created the meadow before us. He also shared some tips on how to have ‘a positive interaction’ with a bear, were we to meet one on our travels (subtle foreshadowing: luckily, we didn’t).
From there, we hopped back into the vans and drove for another hour, eventually parking in the stony, white heart of a gypsum mine. The topography felt like a scene from Dune, except with sweatsuits instead of stillsuits. We started down a dirt track, eventually reaching three carved stone pyramids of about waist height, placed equidistantly across our path. Each pyramid was topped with a sneaker; the three styles we had been given to wear.
Nic gave a short speech about the shoes, telling us more about the design, and the history of the Equipment line (fun fact: the mesh pair I was wearing had soles carved from a single piece of foam, and apparently take 40 hours to make). He explained that EQT was developed in the early 90s as a way to strip adidas back to its roots, streamlining the brand into its essentials.
Then it was time for Playlab to finally unveil the surprise. In my head, I’d imagined something like Robert Smithson’s ‘Spiral Jetty’, and I (smugly) found I wasn’t too far off. The monument was a piece of land art - a running track carved from the brilliant white stone of the mine. With its crisp, angular shape and surreal location, it felt like we’d landed in a track and field class in outer space.
After the reveal, we were all invited to spend half an hour jogging around the track, testing out the new gear. I ran for a bit, and then clambered up a stony hill next to the track to get a bird’s eye view, taking it all in. (Despite the press notes’ tactful wording that the collection was designed for casual runners like myself, my skills were put to shame by the real runners on the track - artist Taiba Akhuetie, Sam, and a duo from Mental Athletic.)
As the temperature dropped, the group huddled around a fire pit in the middle of the circuit to enjoy the sunset, where we were each given a silver bento box of real gorp fare (the word ‘gorp’ has been co-opted to mean fashionable high performance gear, but it actually stands for ‘good ol’ raisins and peanuts’, ie. trail mix.)
Eventually, the inky darkness descended like a blanket, and we headed back to the hotel.
It’s now been a week since I got home from my travels - I even managed to spend a day in Houston thanks to a cancelled connecting flight. (Luckily my friend and her dog drove up from Austin to meet me, and took me for my first IHOP - the perfect final adventure.)
Tonight I’ll be watching the British Fashion Awards and keeping my fingers crossed for Threads podcast guest Alva Claire (Nominated for Model of the Year) and Helen Kirkum (nominated for British Accessories brand, who also collaborated with our friends at RE-COMB). Stay tuned for more interviews and podcasts, coming soon!
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Threads of the week
I visited Nadine Mos’ London showroom last week, where she had her first footwear on display - a collaboration with Korean brand Reike Nen. I tried on the Maha Pants, the Nur Corset Top and the nude mesh heels. She hosted it at a beautiful vintage archive space called Baraboux.
Loose Threads
Chomped through a few episodes of the Mubi podcast this week, both tackling thorny subject matter in film - Molly Manning Walker talking about her breakout debut, ‘How To Have Sex’, and Kevin Macdonald, director of the John Galliano documentary ‘High and Low’.
Dazed MENA has launched! I’m a big fan of Ahmad Swaid, formerly editor of GQ Middle East. I’m excited to see what he builds.
Alongside my podcast habit, I also like watching re-runs of It’s Nice That’s ‘Nicer Tuesdays’ talks. This one with Hannah Richardson is both hilarious and thought-provoking.
Start your own Thread
What have you been into recently? Let me know in the comments!
loooove the look of the track