April 07 2015

Nordstrom featured W.R.K’s Spring/Summer Collection for their “Behind the Brand” series. Speaking directly with W.R.K’s Creative Director, Matteo Gottardi, he discussed the seasonal inspiration of Formula One – highlighting both the car & driver, and how the glamour sport can be seen as both visually compelling and dangerous in nature.

Being a motorcycle enthusiast, Gottardi’s general view with W.R.K is to design high performance menswear. Gottardi emphasizes that every single garment has has functionality in mind. “There’s purposefulness in every detail. A reason for everything.”

Gottardi goes in depth about the theme – “I was really inspired by the race-car driver James Hunt. He was a rock star, playboy, engineer, amazing athlete and fantastic Formula One race-car driver. What I love about being a race-car driver is you’re a socialite, an engineer and an athlete. You have to be at top physical form, lowest weight possible and withstand g-force. You have to cover this broad spectrum, and your style has to do the same- they’re superheroes.”

One of signature items from the W.R.K collection is the Reworked Shirt. Gottardi explains the concept – “Men like to feel comfortable. If they could, most guys would probably wear sweatpants and a sweatshirt every day. We live in comfort, but we want to look good. The Reworked shirt does that. “

“What we’ve done is made the front, the cuffs and the collar out of poplin. And then we’ve taken the same yarn and done a T-shirt jersey for the sleeves and back. So, what are you getting? A sportswear shirt or even a dress shirt, but with the flexibility and comfort of a T-shirt. And it’s all made out of the same yarn so it doesn’t look like two different shirts.”

Click on link to view full article online: https://blogs.nordstrom.com/men/behind-the-brand-w-r-k/