Sustainable running wear collection from YMR Track Club

We started to develop the new collection of sustainable running wear wear, Shinjuku, almost a year ago. The plan was to develop a functional collection that was both lighter and better and with new cuttings and fitting. The inspiration of the new collection is the giant city in the east where fashion and running meet.

Tokyo’s urban distict

Tokyo, Japan. A city over 30 million people call home. With one foot firmly in the city’s rich past and with one foot constantly creating global trends, Tokyo has developed a unique aesthetic in fashion and style. This aesthetic has been the leading inspiration as we’ve developed the Shinjuku collection named after one of Tokyo’s busiest and most urban districts.

Sustainable running wear

Walking the streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo one is struck by the bright lights and bold colours. Beyond the Tokyo cityscape, Japanese fashion is also characterized by its use of bold and contrasting colour patterns. Inspired by the Japanese affinity for highly textured fabrics and rich colour palettes, our new Shinjuku collection stands out for its innovative, textured and durable performance fabrics together with its exciting color combinations.

Marathon

Why Tokyo? Why would a Swedish performance wear brand draw inspiration specifically from Japan one might wonder? Japan isn’t only at the global forefront in style and fashion, it also has an enviable running culture and might very well be the most marathon-obsessed country in the world. Japan hosts a number of major marathon events fronted by the Tokyo Marathon, which enjoys the status of being one of the six World Marathon Majors. Not only do Japanese runners participate en masse, they are an accomplished group of runners, too. Last year, no less than 53 male and female runners achieved the Olympic standard (compare that number to the equivalent number of the much larger United States: 23).

Shinjuku Singlet

Design process

Taking off in the Japanese culture, fashion and running tradition, we started the design process of creating functional performance wear made for running. The shorts was the first garment to design. The idea was to use the Norr Mälarstrand Shorts and make them better. We changed the fitting as we made them slightly longer and placing the split a little bit higher. That made the new shorts both faster and better. After that we set the colours and as we started designing the singlets. We decided to add the new colour ochre. It´s a bright colour that looks great with navy and off-white. The singlets for men also have a more spacious fit, perfect for running.

We are proud to say that we once again are using materials from recycled plastics and have designed and knitted the new Shinjuku collection locally here in the textile district of Sweden, Sjuhärad.