Nike’s New Collection Embodies Our Mantra For 2020

2020 isn't just the start of a new year, it's the start of a new decade of style, culture and music. In 50 years, we’ll look back on photos and smile as we remember that outfit we wore everywhere for a whole year, and listen back to the album that so perfectly captured our mood. While New Year’s resolutions can quickly feel like a test you’re set up to fail, New Decade resolutions have a much more achievable timeline! And this decade we’re aiming to be bolder, more creative, to inject fun into our wardrobes and be brave with colour. We want to use our bodies in any way we can to feel good and have fun – whether that’s reconnecting with a sport we loved at school, taking up boxing with the intention of de-stressing, or joining a beginner’s class with a funky title at the gym. It’s time to experiment.

Designed with a spirit of new beginnings, the new Nike Icon Clash collection, titled 'Just Do It Yourself', embodies all of these things with a distinct throwback aesthetic and a mantra of 'go bold or go home'. The colour palette predicts a bright future with fuchsia, orange, lime green, red and royal blue saturating the collection.

Built for performance, the collection is designed to inspire the unique, DIY journey it encapsulates, offering an appropriate layer for every step of the way, from the new Nike Swoosh Icon Clash Bra and cycling shorts, to running tights, full training tracksuits and climbing jackets. The bra is quick-drying and breathable, and comes in three support levels: low support (for yoga, barre, working on your side hustle), medium support (spinning, clubbing, running for the bus) and high support (running instead of getting the bus, basketball, football and making your dreams a reality). There’s even a little pocket to keep your new decade to-do list in. 

DIY culture is about taking risks and taking action when the status quo doesn’t feel right. The style that emerges from this culture has a distinct aesthetic. For the punks in the '70s, DIY fashion manifested in rips, chains, safety pins, badges, slogans and clashing tartans. It was ordered chaos – the uniform of counterculture. Just Do It Yourself is inspired by this chopped and screwed aesthetic, designed for the new DIY generation who are making things happen for themselves – getting together and starting movements, launching businesses, and finding creative solutions.

Throughout the collection, classic sportswear staples are deconstructed and reconstructed, intended to be mixed, matched and layered up. Key chains, drawstrings, bum bags and backpacks compile a super retro aesthetic that’s a bit '70s, a bit '80s, a bit '90s and very 2020s. Labels and stickers are sewn and printed onto lightweight two-tone tracksuits and heavier duty joggers. The Nike swoosh is layered on top of itself on a T-shirt and a sports bra, and cut up and printed across different parts of a windbreaker. This collection will have you more than prepared for whatever life throws at you, or whatever you choose to throw at it.

The collection’s title 'Just Do It Yourself' brings a new dimension to the original 'Just Do It' slogan, which debuted in a Nike TV ad in 1988 (remember TV ads?!). It featured 80-year-old Walt Stack, a man who ran 17 miles every morning – topless – around San Francisco and across the Golden Gate Bridge. A fine example of just doing it yourself, Walt’s running was an expression of his character. Sport and the style that accompanies it is a way to clear the mind and make space for creative ideas. Walt must have had a few good ones on those runs.

Just as a person’s style gives insight into their character, so their sport of choice tells you something about their mindset. The moment you find out someone competes in triathlons, was an under 16s kickboxing champion at school, that they’ve just taken up dancehall classes at their local studio or that they’re restarting training after an accident, you understand more about their personality, their ambition and where they’re at emotionally. Sport is a way to express who you are – to yourself first and foremost, and then to those around you. 

Just Do It Yourself sets the tone for the decade ahead – bright, fun and prepared for every eventuality. Time to stop waiting and start doing.