In March, I posted about a recent sample that had come in from the factory — a sample we had dubbed the “Mach” tee. It utilized a new (to us) lightweight mesh material that performed quite well in the hot, humid climate of NYC late last summer.
Interestingly enough, some people noted that the gradient design on the tee looked “fast.”
Fitting, I thought, considering the entire premise of the collection (and more importantly, the gradient design) was based on very fast things.
The moodboard for the collection in which this product lives doesn’t include many runners or even running-adjacent imagery. Instead, we wanted to explore the world of stealth aircraft, Mach (hence the name) speeds, and the effects of speed on the world around those objects.
For the gradient specifically, we took heavy inspiration from Schlieren imaging… particularly the background-oriented Schlieren technique.
How it works:
First, you take a reference image of the patterned background with no airflow or disturbance.
Then you introduce something like hot air, shockwaves, or a jet stream, and take another image.
The air disturbances slightly bend the light passing through them, causing a distortion in how the background appears.
This allows you to affectively map out where the air was disturbed.
Clay began experimenting in Photoshop with the beginning of a shock diamond from a rocket thruster and how it interacts with air in Schlieren imaging, to develop a way it could be overlaid onto a tank. The first round of sampling is below.
Overall, we’re pretty close. After some minor tweaks to the design, we should be able to get these launched by mid-summer.
Questions? Comments? Drop them below
I’ve seen piece of clothing that change color when they become wet or hot. It would be cool if these shirts started out plain like the current featherweight shirts, but reveal the schlieren pattern when you sweat/workout in it. Don’t even know if that’s possible but it would be cool
planning on running my first marathon in the race day tank, looking forward to what you guys have planned for summer