Known worldwide for its dedication in revolutionising sportswear, Nike has taken one step further by travelling the globe to ensure every female athletes needs are spoken for.
The Nike design team has set the goal of understanding every woman’s requirements, from the elite to the everyday, with the aim of developing a collection that is set to tick all the boxes – comfortable, durable and fashionable.
Believe it or not but there is actual technology behind it all. The Nike Explore Team Sport Research Lab at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, ensures every aspect of movement a woman makes during sport or exercise is recorded. This ensures their latest designs from sportswear to trainers and accessories, all support an athletes every movement and needs whether they are in the gym or competing in a world-class stadium. Using insights recorded from the wearer to scientific knowledge, the designs are set to assist and motivate the wearer.
Within their research the team have mapped out six core movements which are central to almost every sport or workout a female does: push, pull, lunge, squat, bend and rotate. Testing these movements in a sports research lab, on athletes who are in motion also helps to support the accuracy of the design, ensuring the pieces create zero distraction and each product only includes what is necessary for the athlete to strive.
Aesthetic design is also a huge aspect of the collection. “One insight we continually get from top athletes is that if they look good, they feel good, which means they’ll perform their best,” says Julie Igarashi, Vice President of Global Design for Nike Women’s Training. Working with prints that are transferred directly onto the fabric, to ensure regardless of the athletes shape or size it will be uniquely flattering.
Identifying that sport has also become more than just heading to the gym, Igarashi adds: “We focus on a unique blend of performance and style. We won’t compromise one element for the other, which means we can equip the athlete for whatever workout she chooses and wherever she chooses to go before or after.”
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