A star-studded line-up of Nike track and field athletes walked Virgil Abloh’s Paris runway show and debuted a series of new running-led products.
Source: Nike and Virgil Abloh Debut New Track and Field-Inspired Designs in Paris
Instead of starting this paragraph with an anecdote or a reference to introduce the topic to you, I’m going to pull the copy from Nike’s article on the recent Paris Off-White runway show:
Abloh’s most recent Off-White runway show in Paris featured track and field athletes Dina Asher Smith, Vashti Cunningham, Cecilia Yeung, English Gardner, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Nafi Thaim, Caterine Ibarguen and Rénelle Lamote. Each of these women reflect the inherent energy of sport — an undeniable swagger — that fosters fashion’s embrace of sportswear.
While many people are paying attention to the design, my attention is immediately on the use of athletes in a runway show. A few years ago I made it a point to explain why Under Armour was flailing:
I wrote the article above to reinforce that Under Armour had the ability to fill a hole left by Nike as Nike moved towards CDO. Nike has now returned to the playing field this year and this leaves Under Armour and every other brand attempting to find their lane again.
Nike’s collaboration with Virgil and Off-White and the use of athletes in the runway show establish that Nike understands the importance of imagery and connecting with the consumer. At retail every brand, not named Nike, in sportswear continues to try to avoid sports in their marketing. Nike has ramped up their commitment to the athlete because the brand understands the aspirational nature of sport. Nike also realizes that a heavy reliance on models that look like models can actually hurt a brand more than they help.
While the runway did include high fashion models, the inclusion of athletes allowed the collection from Abloh to stand out because it showed the vulnerability of an athlete out of their element. The women walking the runway in this event, interspersed between professional models, was not an easy thing to pull off, but humanized the athletes and brought the traditionally stoic event to a more approachable level:
“Sport, like fashion, shares a common language that seeks to unite cultures, break down barriers and celebrate the power of the human spirit,” says Abloh. “This season, I was inspired by the voice of the athlete and the power of sport to impact positive and transformative change globally.”
