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Girls who shred will no doubt be pleased to hear that the popular female-specific outerwear and streetwear brand Nikita will be delving into the snowboard hardgoods market in 2012/2013 with the release of two brand new models.
Nikita started out as an international streetwear brand back in 2000 and off the back of this solid foundation launched their first line of outerwear in 2006/2007. Since then, Nikita has flourished into one of the most well known and respected female-specific action sports brands in the industry. With the Nikita co-founders (Heida Birgisdottir, Runar Ómarsson and Valdi Hannesson) being keen snowboarders themselves, the move into hardgoods production was only a matter of time and their passion for the sport will no doubt continue to be reflected in the new products. While we were at ISPO we caught up with Runar, who was kind enough to talk us through the new snowboard line.
The line consists of the Sideways Sista and the Nikita Chickita, with the latter taking its name from the popular annual all-girl snowboard event. The Sideways Sista is a directional all-mountain freestyle board available in sizes ranging from 138 to 156. It has a zero camber profile for the pop and stability benefits of camber combined with the floaty, catch-free characteristics of reverse camber. The Nikita Chickita is a slightly softer flexing, true twin snowboard designed for the female park and jib rider and comes in sizes ranging from 135 to 152. The Nikita Chickita is constructed with a positive camber profile for pop and responsiveness except for the 135 size where a forgiving,easy to ride reverse camber profile is used to assist younger girls in the learning and progression process. The boards are produced in the well-established Elan factory in Austria so we can therefore expect top notch products with good quality construction and materials.
With Nikita being primarily a softgoods and apparel brand up until this point, the first line of snowboards draws some graphical inspiration from the 2012/2013 outerwear pieces, with matching themes and colourways running across both the hardgoods and softgoods lines. Interestingly, Nikita have also incorporated recycled fabrics into the construction of the boards, which adds a nice ecologically friendly touch.
If you’re a fan of the brand don’t forget to check out this season’s Nikita outerwear offerings before venturing on your next shred trip. Seeing as we are approaching the ‘beginning of the end of the season’ you may just be able to nab yourself a bargain!