Mriga Kapadiya speaks to Blur The Border:
BTB: How did the collaboration come about with Nike? Can you share a pivotal moment or connection that helped bring this partnership to life?
Mriga: Nike reached out to us 2 years ago, telling us they are interested in building a relationship with us and supporting our work. We didn’t really know what that entailed at the time however a few months later we were told that if we want the Nike Global team would like us to collaborate on a women's collection as being the first one of its kind coming out of India. We were obviously excited to make this happen. Before we started any design work, Nike took us on an amazing retreat to Australia where we spent the week with 30 other artists and designers from around the world that were also affiliated with Nike. It was cool to meet amazing humans, witness how Nike operates in the community and start that process of building a relationship.
BTB: From initial discussions to final execution, what was the overall timeline to create the pieces? What were the key stages or turning points in the process?
Mriga: It took about 2 years from start to finish. The initial stages were getting briefed and us taking some time to go over the themes and colour palette frameworks and present designs that represented NBNW in a way that we felt could work nicely in the Nike space. After we locked those in with Nike then it was a matter of sampling which took about a year. After that it was more focused on production, marketing and distribution strategies.
BTB: Were there any learning or new perspectives that you gained from working with a globally recognised brand, especially around logistics, communication, or scaling up production?
Mriga: The army of humans it takes to make all decisions from small to big.. There are a lot of different respective roles, a lot of time zones, a lot of regions to consider as this was a global launch. Overall we learned the timeline challenges that can come with operating at such a large scale, however the impact a project has because of it’s scale is unmatched.
BTB: If you were to approach this collaboration again, is there anything you would do differently, either creatively or operationally?
Mriga: Spend more time on the marketing, PR and distribution strategies.
BTB: What guidance or insights would you share with emerging brands looking to engage in meaningful global collaborations?
Mriga: Take the time to build a clear and strong world, identity and language before trying to collaborate with anyone. The point of collaboration is to bring worlds together. We’ve spent 15 years building and rebuilding all aspects of our world, and it felt like a natural time to execute this collaboration without compromising our own identity. It’s noisy out there, so be clear so nothing can shake you.
