NIKE launches “Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good: Nike Apparel” to celebrate the power of women’s sportswear
Nike is set to release “Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good: Nike Apparel,” the first book to chart the visual history of women’s sportswear, showcasing Nike’s pivotal role in advancing women’s sports over the past 50 years. This visually stunning volume, created in collaboration with Phaidon Press, spans more than 350 pages and features over 575 images that explore the dynamic relationship between women and their sportswear.
The book delves into five key design archetypes from sporting history—warm-ups, jerseys, leggings, sports bras, and shorts—each illustrating how apparel can empower athletes both on and off the field. With intimate interviews from notable Nike athletes like Sha’Carri Richardson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe, and Naomi Osaka, the book provides personal insights into how sportswear shapes the experiences and identities of female athletes.
Authored by writer and editor Maisie Skidmore, the book also includes contributions from distinguished writers such as Dal Chodha, Michelle Millar Fisher, Heather Radke, Samantha N. Sheppard, and Natalie E. Wright. Their perspectives weave Nike’s influence into the broader sociocultural context of women’s sports apparel, highlighting how design and innovation have driven progress in women’s sports.
“Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good” is richly illustrated with content from Nike’s archives, including reproductions of trade catalogs, period and contemporary photography, sketches, advertisements, and design proposals. The visual elements emphasize the enduring cultural influence of Nike’s designs, showcasing how Nike’s apparel has continually adapted to meet the needs of female athletes.
The book’s design itself is a nod to its theme, featuring sweeping pattern lines and notch markers reminiscent of garment-making. It includes an exposed spine with two different paper colors, evoking a stack of archive papers, and is encased in a translucent, glassine-like jacket that reveals the cloth-bound case beneath.
“Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good: Nike Apparel” is available for pre-order at Phaidon.com/NikeApparel and will be widely released in December. This volume not only celebrates the past but also cements Nike’s commitment to the future of women’s sports, making it a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of sport, design, and empowerment.
