You’d have thought someone suggested that the USA Olympic Track Team wear latex!
The world was treated to a long look at the new “nike kits” that will be worn by the U.S. track and field team for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. (see here). The clothing came under a barrage of immediate criticism though, when the running publication Citius posted the above Instagram image, revealing a unitard on a female mannequin along with a male one-piece uniform with longer legs. Although Nike and every other manufacturer of sports uniforms surely follow the “function over fashion edit,” the new Nike female duds were deemed by many to be way too sexualizing, with their high-cut bikini line.
But there was another TikTok video quickly posted of American runner Sha’Carri Richardson wearing one of the outfits (raising her arms in the video she reveals the stunning detachable sleeves of the new Nike piece). Familiar to fashion as she is, the Nike-endorsed Sha’Carri attended the 2021 Met Gala, was featured in Teen Vogue, and was just seen modeling the new Jacquemus-Nike partnered luxury purse. Suffice it to say…Richardson rocks the unitard.
Good enough for Sha’Carri; should the new Nike duds be good for us all?
It should be noted that Nike will offer over fifty pieces for athletes to wear, which include, compression shorts, and crop top bodysuits with shorts. After the initial firestorm of criticism over the mannequin, and all of us taking a breath, and with a little more consideration, the unitards seem fine to most now.
As happens often in the modern culture news sphere, controversies, and clickbait-able pictures or announcements often settle quickly. It just would have been nice if lovers of latex as we all are, we could have gotten some mileage from such an attention-drawing moment…a latex catsuit made for the Olympic athletes, perhaps? But alas, it wasn’t our favorite textile on the hot spot this time.
