Ahead of the Paris Olympics this summer, we speak to Nike’s athletes and designers about crafting their kits in style
If you were to make your way past the Palais Brongniart in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris last week, you would’vee seen six sporting titans standing above the building’s steps. Fencer Bebe Vio, sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, footballers Kylian Mbappé and Alexia Putellas, plus basketballers Lebron James and Victor Wembanyama were all there – except it wasn’t really them, but 10 metre-tall bright orange versions, towering above all who walk past. The domineering statues acted as a gateway into Nike On Air, the immersive exhibition that delved into the genealogy of Nike Air, and also included a live presentation that brought together the world’s biggest athletes to unveil uniforms for the 2024 Paris Olympics. But when names like Serena Williams, Sha’Carri Richardson, Dina Asher-Smith, Rai Benjamin and Logan Edra gather together under one roof, you’re reminded that Nike isn’t simply a sporting brand, but a cultural behemoth that’s infiltrated all of our lives
But first, how long does it take to put together an event of this scale? “The honest answer would be four years,” says president Heidi O’Neill, “because we started the minute Tokyo stops.” Inside the exhibition is where we got our first taste of what Nike has been working on since the last Olympics. A history of Air – the underfoot cushioning platform that gives athletes their boost – whets your whistle before making your way into a room lined with mannequins wearing the new Olympic uniforms. After this, came the live presentation, where we witnessed the kits on the athletes who will wear them into battle. It’s an overwhelming feeling, seeing them all grouped together like that – and this is completely intentional. “If you are not in awe of those people,” said O’Neill of the feelings evoked in the show, “if you are not in awe of what they do, and the journey and the commitment and the work that it takes to do what they do – we wanted you to feel that awe.”
Taking part in the show was Benjamin, a US hurdler and sprinter at the top of his game. What’s great about Benjamin’s association with Nike is that he wasn’t just drafted in right at the end to model in a show, but has been working closely with the design team for the entire journey. “There’s a new shoe coming out, which everyone will see today at the show,” he tells me. “I worked really closely with the innovation team and making some tweaks to the shoe itself, just to add a bit more stability and have it be more aggressive than the previous model.” Edra, the 18-year-old breakdancer who competes under the nickname Logistx, also stood in the lineup at the show, and echoed Benjamin’s sentiments. “They’re asking [our input] all the time,” she says, “making sure they’re getting the right information so we know what we can break in, and what we feel comfortable breaking in and how to develop that apparel.”
As well as enhancing its athletes’ performance in the way Benjamin and Edra speak about, Nike’s apparel and footwear also has to work for them aesthetically, too. Though this may be the case, performance and aesthetics are never in competition with one another. “It’s not performance versus style, because it’s really performance and style,” says Martin Lotti, the brand’s Chief Design Officer. “Even professional athletes I’ve had the opportunity to work with will literally tell you, ‘I play better if I look better.’ They don’t even see it as a versus they, see it as an enhancer.” When I speak to Benjamin about this, he echoes Lotti almost word for word. “I feel like if you look good, you feel good, and you perform even better,” says the 400m hurdler.
Athletes like Benjamin and Edra put their trust in Nike, not only with their performance but also with their aesthetics, because the brand has been a part of their lives forever. For Benjamin, Nike was a big part of culture in high school. “Having a pair of Js was important. That’s when the Conchords dropped, and the Taxi 12s. I’m from New York – if you didn’t have a pair of Jordans, what were you doing?” he says, laughing. Edra also adds that she grew up wearing Nike as well. “For me, it’s always been the Cortez,” she continues. “I feel like it’s such a West Coast type of style in terms of Hip-hop fashion. It’s a famous running shoe, but a lot of breaking legends from the West Coast have worn it as well, like Frosty Freeze and B-Girl Nadia.” This life-long cultural infiltration is what’s given Nike such a good footing when going into the Paris Olympics, and what’s made it possible to produce a uniform that balances performance and style so expertly. “Nike is the culture, honestly”, says Benjamin, resolutely. “People have been wearing Jordans for forever, the Air Maxes for forever – Nike have a very, very symbiotic relationship that I don’t think any other brand can really get in and break up.”