Sportswear giants, Nike, has unveiled new jerseys for Nigeria’s football teams in New York ahead of the Super Eagles’ 2021 Africa Cup of Nations match-day three home qualifying encounter against Sierra Leone.
President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick had disclosed that a new attire for the national team’s World Cup qualifying series will be unveiled by Nike in March 2020.
Building upon the learnings from the successful 2018 Nigeria Swoosh Collection, Nike undertook deep cultural immersions and collaborated with the federation to ensure the designs truly resonated.
Nike said its designers had 65 chassis options available to them across varying necklines, sleeves, cuffs, badge placement, etc.
“In addition to the art of designing football kits, science is always at the forefront of the process. It all starts in the lab, where Nike captured data on more than 300 footballers and football-specific movements.
“The design team leveraged 4D visualization tools to bring the product to life before creating samples. This process helps Nike analyze how the kits will perform on body with regard to stretching, draping and fit.
“Using generative design, Nike then knitted kits that are 55 percent faster wicking, 13 percent more breathable and with 10 percent more stretch than Nike’s previous kits.
“The precision knitting is reinforced where needed and vented in areas prone to heat. The results, upon close inspection, reveal a highly intricate knitting structure, while not distracting from the national pride artistry from afar,” Nike said concerning the jerseys on its website.
About the designs
In 2018, Nigeria changed the game with a collection for the ages that set a new standard for how Nike approaches federation design.
In 2020, Nigeria picks up right where they left off with a home kit that fuses the traditional aesthetic of an agbada robe with modern football design.
The kit’s pattern was hand drawn “and is highly symbolic of Nigerian heritage with nods to nobility and family”, according to Nike.
Nigeria’s crest is placed centrally on the chest with a Swoosh underneath it.
The player names and numbers integrate the eagle feather into the application. “Naija” appears inside the neck of jersey and on the back of the socks in a new typeface.
Nike said the away kit is inspired by Onaism, a traditional artistic movement central to Nigerian design and craft represented in the trim details.
An eagle feather aesthetic, creatively distorted, continuously repeats in ascending size to create a visual impact. The collar has a slight V overlap with a thicker overlap in the back. Both the collar and the sleeves feature a slight nick at the mid-point.
The broader Naija collection will feature an extensive array of Super Eagles apparel including a poncho, vest, dress and more.
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