There is a saying that goes…
“Strive for progress, not perfection..”
May it be consistently eating healthy, losing/gaining weight, finishing a 21km run, or lifting that next great weight, many of us have certain fitness goals we want to achieve. But sometimes, the roads to achieving those are often unclear which discourages us before even starting. We often want to always achieve perfection in our pursuits that when we imagine ourselves not succeeding, we already see “failure”.
Whether you’re aiming to gain muscle or wanting to shed pounds, you can (re)start achieving your goals, step by step. All you have to do is convince your mind and strive in every step. One proudly Filipino-driven startup aims to help you equip your ambitions through activewear that is sure to be there as you strive in each of those steps.
The Brand’s Birth
Nixáre /nik-SAA-reh/ is a Latin word that means “strive!”, and it is the word that Matthew Nierras and Andrew Tan chose when they established their active lifestyle brand. Matt and Andy both played football back in PAREF Southridge School and took on separate routes when Matt played the same sport for DLSU, while Andy became a member of the ADMU baseball team. Their paths came to meet again when they both started playing for Stallion FC, their current football club.
Having experienced being student-athletes, they noticed the lack of local brands in the activewear scene as international labels are the ones often sponsoring student-athletes. This gave birth to the idea of establishing Nixáre as the local startup brand that provides high-quality, high-value activewear at an obtainable price.
“Nixáre is an active lifestyle brand that offers athletic and dynamic fit activewear or sports apparel for the everyday athlete. We specify the everyday athlete because (Nixare) considers everyone to be an athlete, whether they’re a professional athlete, weekend warriors and everyone in between.” – Matthew Nierras
When In Manila had the chance to experience wearing some products from Nixáre Basics, their first product line, to see how they fit and feel. Nixáre Basics is composed of minimalist tops which use polyester-cotton blend, a material that assists in the athletic fit that contours to the body, while still allowing for comfort and mobility.
Since Nixáre has no permanent store yet (hoping for its rise soon!), online delivery is the current and only option for one to get hands on these shirts, so we had ours delivered to our homes.
Nesta works at a social media agency in BGC; outside of work, she is a religious singer and is a fitness junkie as well. Here she is with the Nixáre Women’s Light Grey Basic Sleeveless Top.
As Matt and Andy saw the trend that activewear  are not just purely used for sports activities or working out anymore,  they made sure that Nixáre would be a source of functional and comfortable activewear. These clothes are functional that they can be flexibly used for working out in the gym, jogging, yoga, hiking, crossfit, or simply wearing it as you commute to work.
So, here I am with the Nixáre Men’s Wildcard Basic Shirt. To simply put it, I’m an ‘ectomorph’  trying to put some pounds and muscle, so  I go to the gym as regularly as possible.
This is the Nixáre Men’s Charcoal T-Shirt.  It’s logo glimmers especially when in dark places. Isn’t that cool???
Of all the activewear I’ve tried, I can honestly say that Nixáre has given me the most comfortable workout yet. It fits well on my body, it’s soft and light, and it has an ‘airy’ aspect which helped in having a carefree workout. I’m definitely not yet in that ‘buff’ stage, but this shirt somehow made me feel “uy, parang ang buff ko dito hahaha” since its fit felt just right.
Also, I have tried wearing Nixáre for commuting, and the fumes of Metro Manila did not stick that much to the shirt, which is definitely a plus point! I used it for commuting since it’s not an obvious activewear because of its simple yet classy appeal.
