Watch brands collaborating with athletes on special-edition styles is not a novel idea in the world of fashion. So what makes G-Shock's latest collaboration with Nigel Sylvester any different? First off, he's not your average athlete.As a BMX rider whose training on the streets of NYC eventually lead him to go pro, Nigel Sylvester strays from the kind of sports star usually tied to watch collaborations—think race-car drivers, pro basketball players, fencers, and other folks whose personal brands (and their watches) ooze exclusivity and elitism. But with Nigel's second collaboration with G-Shock, what we get is a sharp-looking watch that actually has some balls.Nigel is considered one of the top BMX athletes and, like many others in his line of work, is a self-made success. And it's that kind of realness and respectable hustle that's reflected in his G-Shock watches, along with Nigel's biggest style muse, his hometown of New York City."I’ve been working on this piece for the past eight months," Nigel mentioned to me at G-Shock's release party this week in New York. "It’s finally live, it’s finally here, and I’m very proud of it. It’s a representation of everything that I’ve been going through for the past year: of inspirations, my influences, my city."
"One of the strongest features on the watch that is very New York-centric is the safari print we put on the band," continued Nigel. "You know how New York can be so chaotic, so intense, so exhilarating. It can be a safari or a jungle in that sense at any moment. And you have to navigate through that.""Sometimes New York can be dark, it can be black. But black also feels elegant and beautiful, humbling, so that’s what that stands for."After chatting it up a bit more with Nigel on his new super slick watch, I finally headed downstairs where the rest of the party was. It was an epic night: I met Miss New York USA, pissed off one of the A$AP Mob kids because I didn't move as I was trying to capture a photo (but then we hugged it out in the end), discovered that Jadakiss is alive and well, and then ended the night getting myself and my camera drenched in water thanks to A$AP Ferg freaking out on the crowd with a bottle of water at the start of his performance.You can see all the shenanigans and party freaks from this past Thursday's event in the photo gallery above.@clickclash
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