#HTE

Reebok and Odd Matter Unveil Athletic Chair Made with Sneaker Material, Flexweave

Using technical fabrics most often used for clothing or accessories when designing footwear is nothing new—we’ve seen this most recently with companies like Raised By Wolves’ Gore-Tex Reebok Classics and the upcoming Nike Air Jordan IV by Levi’s collaboration, which will put the classic sneaker silhouette in all-denim. What is relatively new, though, is the idea of using materials specifically designed for footwear to create entirely different objects.

On that note, this morning, Reebok announced a collaboration with design studio Odd Matter on an athletic seating collection made from their woven performance textile, Flexweave, which, “boasts an open figure-8 construction that interlocks unlimites strands of fibers to create a single surface construction that is as strong as it is light." Here’s a look at the first chair to come out of the collection:

Similar to a yoga ball, this chair engages your body through balance—supported by Flexweave, which was originally designed for use in footwear.

Reebok’s Innovation Collective is on a mission to show the versatility Flexweave’s properties have to offer. This was first seen with the debut of a Flexweave suit designed by classic suiting company, Huntsman & Sons last year, and the company is continuing to rollout collaborations with various design studios in the New Year. 

Their latest announcement with Odd Matter shows how the material would translate to furniture design. Out of context, the final result looks foreign to exercise and more like a fine art sculpture. But, the result truly does speak to Odd Matter’s design aesthetic—the studio’s body of work is a range of sculpture, furniture and design objects, all with one thing in common—the use of carefully-selected materials.

This collaboration is intriguing for two main reasons: The first simply being that this chair is made in part with a sneaker material. When you think about it, this isn’t such a bad concept. Materials like Reebok’s Flexweave are firm and durable enough to provide support for our feet—the body part we put most of our pressure on—yet soft enough to remain comfortable.

The second intriguing aspect was the structure—or lack thereof— of the collaboration between Reebok and Dutch design duo, Odd Matter. When speaking with Els Woldhek and Georgi Manassiev, the design duo behind Odd Matter, they were honest to admit they had never previously worked with footwear materials before this project—especially not textiles. They were up for the challenge, however, since their work heavily relies on materials research. 

Working with a performance material was the most familiar part of the design process for Odd Matter. Besides that, the team was left to narrow down the vast uses the material has to offer to focus their energy on just a few key properties. They ultimately came to the decision that strength and flexibility should be their main design focus.

“The Inspiration for the chair came from the Flexweave material itself. Whilst experimenting and playing with the fabric we were very intrigued by its behavior, structure and strength under tension. From there we wanted to create an object that played with that tension, a bit like the string of a bow, something in which the tension and strength is palpable.” —Els Woldhek of Odd Matter

Reebok gave Odd Matter free reign to experiment with and interpret Flexweave in whichever way their research lead them, which is a rare collaboration agreement. The duo didn’t go into the project with a set idea, so they allowed Flexweave’s properties to guide them along the way until they reached a finished design. Larger companies generally like to have a big say in the directions of collaborations, so the fact that Reebok was hands-off in the design process made this a pretty sweet design experience for Odd Matter. Reebok did, however have a say in deadlines, and the studio admitted the short timeline and quick decision making were two of the biggest challenges throughout the process.

Along with Odd Matter’s Flexweave chair, Reebok's Design Collective also announced a pair of gloves designed by Joe Doucet and a training mask designed by London-based design house, Modla:

Learn more about Reebok’s Flexweave initiatives here.