The Needles track pant has long held court in menswear circles as a winking signifier of clued-in taste. The thick side ribbon, five stripes, and embroidered butterfly act as a nod to others in the sartorial know. (It even landed the covetable A$AP Rocky co-sign.) Over the years, the Japanese brand has produced the style—as well as the corresponding jacket—in countless colors, usually in a smooth polyester but occasionally in other materials like shiny velour. It’s the label’s most well-known export, alongside the “rebuilt” flannels and funky, fuzzy cardigans. And this season, Needles has remixed its beloved tracksuit like never before: in smooth and shiny leather.
Nepenthes
Nepenthes
To accomplish such a feat, the brand tapped legendary leather label Schott NYC for the duo’s very first collaboration. Schott, which was founded back in 1913, is the first name in American leather, responsible for the iconic Perfecto motorcycle jacket worn by everyone from Marlon Brando in The Wild One to the Ramones. In recent years, the stalwart label has become a heavy hitter in the world of collabs, having worked with the likes of streetwear juggernaut Supreme and avant-garde fashion house Sacai. This limited-edition tracksuit features all the signature motifs from Needles—the stripes, the butterfly, the instantly recognizable shade of purple—but with beautiful jet-black leather in place of the typical polyester. Each garment is strong enough to stand on its own, but wear them together and you’ve got yourself a high-octane fall fit. The collaboration is set to drop in-store and online on November 3 via Nepenthes New York.
Nepenthes
Nepenthes
Needles has never shied away from getting delightfully weird with its clothes—unafraid to mix patterns and materials in unconventional ways. This time around, that means a leather tracksuit with eggplant-purple details and that’s likely a combination we won’t be seeing from the brand again anytime soon. (It is practically a guarantee you’ll be the only one at the function in leather track pants.) As we’ve been telling you for years now, it’s high time to think outside the typical biker and bomber jackets and go wilder with your leather—and a full-on leather tracksuit will undoubtedly do the trick.
