Nike is determined to make the 2020s the decade of women’s sports, led by superstars Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Megan Rapinoe, Billie Eilish and Megan Thee Stallion, as well as everyday athletes.
“There are all-time highs in WNBA viewership, a lot of fans in Europe are watching women’s soccer…there’s so much energy in the space,” said Whitney Malkiel, vice president and general manager of Nike Global Women’s, during an interview. with WWD on the brand’s 50th anniversary.
Nike is the world’s largest women’s apparel and footwear company, with business growing in fiscal 2021 by 20 percent to $8.5 billion.
More than just a sponsor of athletes, Nike believes that “if you have a body, go enjoy exercise and movement,” the executive said of the shift toward greater inclusion in ability and body type, which has led to further innovation in style and comfort. , plus sizes and performance apparel, ventures into the maternity and modesty markets and more.
While Nike has taken hits, including a class action lawsuit alleging gender discrimination at the company, Malkiel, an 18-year veteran of the sportswear giant, feels he’s on the right track when it comes to supporting women.
“There is consistency across the organization that they see women, sports and women’s apparel as massive growth opportunities for the company,” she said. “It’s not inconsistent with what we could have said three or five years ago. What is different now… is our commitment on the investment side. We are backed by the largest investment we have ever made in women, we are seeing it in sports research, design and marketing.”
Organizational changes have allowed creativity to flow. “Unlike in the past, the women’s organization can now take care of all the business; we no longer have categories, we can look at the entire portfolio and make decisions,” she said of how the business has changed from being isolated in individual sports divisions.
“What we are seeing selling well is in the zone of comfort and versatility,” he said. “Our lifestyle clothing business is doing very well, our classic shoe business, Blazer, Dunk and Air Force One, and now it’s about how we size all those franchises.” (In other words, build on them.)
Vice President and General Manager of Nike Global Women, Whitney Malkiel.
Courtesy of Nike
To better serve women, the brand is in the midst of what it calls a “fit revolution.” “We’ve spent a lot of money studying body shapes, doing 70,000 body scans,” she said. “We are looking at the relationship between shape and size; where to put gussets and trim on 1X to 4XL.” The response has been tremendous, she added, citing a customer email she received from a woman saying she finally felt confident enough in her workout gear to get back in the gym.
Two key product focal points have been bras and tights, that is, simplifying their classifications to create three new family franchises: Indy, Swoosh and Alate.
“She’s moving toward three silhouettes that capture her personality, and no matter what your cup size is, you can have that style,” she explained, sharing how the same strategy is used in tights to go from sport-specific to sensation. specific. Zenvy, Go and Universa labels.
“Historically, we would only lead with activity, so here’s your running tights, here’s your yoga tights. Now it’s how you want to feel with the tight, do you want it soft or safe, “said Malkiel about the perception that emerged from listening to the athletes.
On the footwear side, running shoes continue to perform well. One of the best in retail has been the Pegasus shoe, so the women’s team has been working to develop offerings in that style, offering it as a trail running shoe, winterizing it with Gore-Tex and creating a version with sustainable materials. “She sees it, she gets it, and she loves it, so maybe we create multiple uses for it and give her different reasons to buy it. That is working well with Peg and we will apply that concept to other franchises,” she explained.
Nike also continues to innovate in the footwear space. The Nike Spark shoe was born from the idea of how far women walk in a day and how fatigued their feet feel. “It’s a beautiful shoe, but at the same time it has a performance platform that gives you energy back so your feet don’t get as tired. So it’s a really interesting mix of lifestyle and performance,” Malkiel said of the design, which promises a 12-hour pain-free day on your feet.
The Nike Women’s Spark shoe is designed for comfort.
Courtesy of Nike and CAMPFIRE LLC
In the fashion arena, expanding the Jordan franchise to women, with Jumpman logo bras, track pants and extended-size sneakers, has also been a milestone for the brand. Fiscal year 2021 was the biggest year in Jordan brand history, with triple-digit growth in the women’s category. “We think there’s a huge opportunity there…they’re having female designers creating some of their hottest releases,” she said. “That was a strategic decision by Jordan that will continue to be in our playbook.”
Nike sees great potential in women’s sneaker culture, expanding on the limited editions it launched with Sacai, Comme des Garçons and many more. “We do it well, but there’s a lot more that the team is thinking about how to unlock and make it really relevant to her.”
That could mean going beyond the Nike Sneakers app, he said. “I think that’s the OG sneakerhead… what we see is a new opportunity to speak to a new group when it comes to sneaker culture. We’re working on trying to evolve that app to make it feel better for women. And whether it’s the app or some other experience in the future, the team is still debating it.
“We have to own our own destiny when it comes to the market, that’s why the push from Nike Direct is important to the business, and that’s where our physical stores and Nike Live become important. But it’s also how she wants to move around the world from nike.com to physical stores, we’re trying to achieve that journey, including our investment in digital and data, and knowing her better than ever,” he said. she noting that digital sales accounted for a third of women’s business last quarter. “It’s how we best serve her in services, products, experiences, fittings, you name it, that’s what we’re trying to create so we can get in her way at the right time.”
Nike offers bra accessories at select stores.
Courtesy of Nike/CAMPFIRE LLC
Physical stores are key to the brand’s premium apparel strategy, and Nike’s women-only stores are not out of the question.
“Everything is at stake; we now have a healthy format on Nike Live, which is 50-50 [men’s to women’s product], and we’re generating huge revenue from them. But I would love to push the team to come up with other ideas. We have an amazing product and we want to make sure you know where to find and experience it.”
Work-from-home hoodies aren’t over, at least not for Nike. “Women still love the idea of comfort and versatility. What we’re seeing them do is start to mix it up with something more personalized and structured as they get back into the world and into work. We’re excited to play in that as we go forward.”
The Nike-Sacai collaboration featured a more structured skirt and clothing, perhaps a la Gucci x Adidas, is one possibility.
“That’s where we experiment, that’s with our collaborations,” he said, hinting at more names to come this year. “And someone like Billie Eilish can see it in a different way, not just through a woman’s lens, but from a gender fluid perspective…”
Whether it’s a pop star or collaborating athletes, not just winning, but being real and relatable is what drives Nike’s storytelling.
“Naomi [Osaka] talking about mental health is one example… she’s talking about her journey to greatness versus her moment of greatness, and she’s talking about what it takes to get there, which is hugely relatable to women,” Malkiel said. . “As athletes do that more and more, women’s sport becomes even more relevant… Our job at Nike is that if we tell those stories, it helps change the sport for the better, makes it more inclusive, attracts new fanatics and encourages new thinking.”
Naomi Osaka with Nike.
Courtesy of Nike
Increasingly, brands, including Nike, have entered the public discourse on political and social equity issues, and Malkiel sees gender equality as a value in the future.
“We are the largest women’s sports brand in the world, so we have a role to play,” she said. “Gender equity is a big issue and there are a lot of moving parts and it’s systemic. Where I am focusing our team is where we can have the most impact. That will be around barriers to sport and access to participation. We have a role to play because we are in 12 cities, we have amazing community programs that we invest in and that is part of our work to create that platform where girls can go and enjoy sport.”
Nike has invested in improving the quality of training for teenagers, for example, which has impacted 300,000 girls.
“Having been an athlete myself, playing ice hockey in college and being early at it, it’s considerably better today,” she said. “But there is still more to be done… We wake up every day thinking, how do we provide access to sport for girls because we believe there is a lifelong journey that she benefits from. It’s fun to come and work with the team every day.”
And do you have an amazing collection of sneakers?
“Yes,” he laughed. “There’s also that.”
Source: wwd.com