In Paris, signs of this summer's Olympics are everywhere: stadiums are being constructed throughout the city, including one right under the Eiffel Tower , the Siene is being cleaned up for its close-up, and Parisians are renting their homes , fleeing as an estimated 15 million visitors descend. Last week, Nike got in on the excitement leading up to the Games, which kick off just over three months from now, when it debuted its Olympics uniforms at Nike on Air, an exhibition that traced the history and future of its Air technology, and a fashion show at Palais Brongniart, featuring 40 athletes, including sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson, basketball star A'ja Wilson, and gymnast Jordan Chiles, wearing the newly unveiled kits.
The uniforms—designed for countries including the U.S., South Korea, Germany, Kenya, and others—were crafted in partnership with the competitors, many of whom came to the Nike Sports Research Lab in Beaverton, Oregon, to help create the fits. Nike calls the collection its “most athlete-informed, data-driven, visually unified” ever produced. “From stitch to stitch, pixel to pixel, we can engineer everything from ventilation to support for different bodies,” says Janett Nichol, Nike's VP of Apparel Innovation, explaining that the company uses motion capture to record an athlete's movements and creates the product with that data in mind.
For new sports, like skateboarding and breakdancing, which will make their Olympic debut this summer, Nike used its same high-performance, sweat-wicking, breathable materials, but worked with the competitors to give the uniform the street-style look they were seeking.
London menswear designer Martine Rose created outfits with both British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith and Australian soccer player Sam Kerr. Asher-Smith's leather snakeskin look “is very Martine, very masculine, but also me,” the track star says, adding that they included cut-outs for a touch of sex appeal. “We work so hard to make sure everything on the track is done 110 percent, but part of putting my best foot forward and showcasing who I truly am is also visual,” Asher-Smith says. “I want to feel invincible. I want to feel limitless. When people see me, I want them to think, O h my god, she looks phenomenal . When the stadium lights go down, I want to glitter, I want to sparkle, I want to be the moment.”
