Nike Men's Tailwind Tee "Runs Hard, Feels Soft, No Sweat."

In preparation for the impending summer season, Nike has reintroduced their Tailwind V-Neck T-shirt. A summer staple of the Nike Dri-FIT collection, the Tailwind Tee has a cotton and polyester blend that makes it softer against the skin and wicks moisture away from the body to keep runners dry and comfortable in the hot summer months. There's also a small back zip pocket to stash essentials like keys and cash.

The shirt enables air circulation with underarm ventilation pockets, leverages moisture-wicking and quick-drying technology, and provides a nonrestrictive and natural fit. Nike positions Tailwind as an item that "Runs Hard, Feels Soft, No Sweat." The tee quickly wicks away sweat instead of using it as a resource, and the product is a favorite amongst hard-core runners.

The Tailwind technology line also includes a collection of footwear, jackets, and sunglasses. The products are multi-sport appropriate, though Nike leverages Tailwind to support its ever-expanding audience of runners.

The North Face Continues Collaborations with Supreme

Next week, The North Face will release another product collaboration with skate brand Supreme as part of their 2012 spring/summer capsule collection. The launch will include a waterproof jacket, backpack, and duffel bag, priced at $257, $193, and $283, respectively. Each item is available in both tan and black, and will feature all-over print of world map imagery along with both The North Face and Supreme brand logos.













The partnership is certainly not a new venture for the two brands, who teamed up last year on The North Face's Nuptse Down Jacket. The item was sold exclusively at Supreme stores and online last November, received widespread attention for its appearance in rapper Drake's music video for The Motto and sold out in a matter of days.

The collaboration with Supreme is historically hugely successful for The North Face, though it represents an interesting departure from their usual approach to product offering. The brand is known for their positioning as a highly innovative, high-performance gear manufacturer and their appeal to the extreme athlete and serious outdoor enthusiast.

Alternatively, Supreme, founded in NYC in 1994, caters to the skateboarding, underground hip-hop, and punk rock cultures. The brand embodies a young counter culture at large, and partners with groundbreaking photographers, designers and musicians to help define its unique identity.

The presence of Supreme's logo on their products communicates a different message for The North Face, and speaks to the brand's infiltration of a more urban audience and legitimacy within the casual sportswear market. The brand maintains a stronghold on two very different segments, and provides a great example of the success that can result from recognizing potential within the changing environment of the fashion industry.

Patagonia Extends Partnerships to Support Common Threads Initiative

Patagonia announced last week that consumers can now recycle their old jackets by turning them into fuzzy, durable Kindle covers and iPad cases. The company has partnered with ReFleece, who strips pieces of outerwear products, converts the fleece into a felt tablet case and sends it back to the original owner of the jacket. With customizable covers for iPhones, iPads, and other electronics all the rage these days, Patagonia strikes a chord with tech savvy consumers while simultaneously encouraging sustainability. Plus, Patagonia becomes top-of-mind for the customer whenever they reach for a good book or browse the net.

And if jacket owners aren't quite ready to see their products torn apart, they can travel to Patagonia's Ebay storefront, which was launched in conjunction with the Common Threads Initiative in September 2011 in another strategic move. After all, if a company's goal is to encourage reuse and rewear of their products, why not seek the help of Ebay, the world's largest marketplace for used and refurbished goods?

The branded Ebay platform extends the useful life of Patagonia products by providing a simple marketplace for users to buy and sell items. If customers would prefer to donate rather than sell, they can travel to the Common Threads hub on Patagonia.com. The partnerships are part of a larger effort to create a new standard of sustainability within the retail industry, which is plagued by over-consumption.

The Ebay platform makes it incredibly easy for consumers to take the pledge to reduce America's widening environmental footprint. This is key because today's consumers, particularly outdoor enthusiasts, lead incredibly busy lives. Even the strongest proponent of environment sustainability can be turned off by a complex system, so any effort to simplify the process will contribute to long-term success for these initiatives.