“Nakata Hidetoshi, or more commonly just Hide, is Japan’s most famous soccer player. Aside from his legs, which carried him from the Japanese league to the Italian and then the English league, his chiseled good looks have also boosted his popularity, landing him in the pages of Vogue and in Calvin Klein ads. After announcing his retirement in 2006 he’s continued to dabble in soccer-related projects but has also branched out into unrelated fields like writing and charity work.”
“His latest project is a collaboration with renowned Japanese design firm Nendo and Takagi Shuzo, a sake brewery with close to 300 years of brewing history. Borrowing the first letter of Nakata, Nippon and Nendo, “N” sake will be a limited edition junmai daiginjo (the pinnacle of sake brewing) made from a combination of Yamada Nishiki and Aiyama rice. And to hold his highly polished sake, Hide worked closely with Oki Sato (from Nendo) to design a unique, minimal container that would stand in contrast to the traditional Japanese beverage. The result is a black canteen-looking cylinder with subtle dimples and a protective cover to shield it from ultraviolet rays.”
Designed by Nendo, Japan
via Spoon & Tamago