Nike plunges into "modest fashion" - Lifestyle

While from San Francisco the great exhibition on "modest fashion" is preparing to fly to New York, Nike dives into the pool with a new collection dedicated to women of Islamic faith and their "modest" behavior when they are in public. Beyond the pure physical stimulus, what makes swimming and water sports special is the feeling of connection with water: the freedom of the absence of gravity, the peace of fluidity around the whole body. It is with this spirit that this week Nike presented its new Victory Swim Collection line available from February 1st on nike.com and at selected retailers worldwide. The initial inspiration came from the feedback from the athletes at the Nike Pro Hijab, the first professional sports hijab introduced two years ago. "The more we listened, the more we saw opportunities to help athletes in new dimensions, planning in an inclusive way and to ensure that more and more women feel comfortable practicing sport," explains Martha Moore, Nike vice president and creative director. So far swimming has been one of the sports in which Islamic women have historically found themselves in difficulty: see the ban on burkina on the beach imposed three years ago by many French municipalities including Cannes and Nice. Many variations of burkina, a term invented by the Australian-Lebanese designer Aheda Zanetti, are sold in Islamic countries and elsewhere but are made more for walking in water than for swimming. The Victory line is different: "When I wear it I feel super light and calm," says Zahra Lari, a skater from the Emirates: "It does not weigh down and helps me swim better. It is different from any swimsuit I have ever seen and I know I can wear it and feel safe ". The collection, which includes the Nike Victory Full-Coverage premium swimsuit complemented with swimwear such as the Nike Victory Swim Hijab, the Nike Victory Swim Tunic Top and the Nike Victory Swim Leggings, introduces innovative performances in the line of swimwear designed for the athletes who wish to be able to move freely in the water while remaining completely covered. Among the technologies adopted, one is inspired by how sharks open their mouths while swimming to counter the resistance opposed by the layers of fabric to free movement in the water. The launch of the Victory line precedes by a few weeks the arrival on February 28th at the New York Cooper Hewitt of a new edition of the "modest fashion" exhibition of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco: a cross-section of different interpretations of luxury, streetwear and the haute couture in the Islamic world that last year had also included Nike's Pro Hijab.