Nike will be releasing its brand new ground, breaking Swift suits for the Olympics this July. Nike is marketing the product as a complete suit that includes socks and arm-length gloves. They have tried their best to reduce any seams by either relocating them to the back or eliminating them altogether, all to ensure the front remains completely flat to prevent any abrasion. The suit has a 7% drag reduction over the Nike Swift Suit for Athens, which translates to .02 seconds in the 100m.
Long gloves and socks were created to prevent drag and when athletes wear the full body system, it can help them go faster. The gloves have dimpled fabrics like a golf ball to cut wind resistance and allow arms to slice through the air faster without slowing down.
Take a look at some more Olympic uniforms:
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Complete Athletic Suits
- The rise of complete athletic suits with innovative features like arm-length gloves and dimpled fabrics like a golf ball cutting wind resistance can disrupt the athletic apparel industry.
- Seamless Design
- The rise of seamless design in athletic wear to reduce friction and abrasion can disrupt the traditional athletic apparel industry.
- Drag Reduction Technology
- The rise of drag reduction technology like dimpled fabrics and seamless design can disrupt the athletic wear industry and improve athletic performance.
Where This Applies
- Athletic Apparel
- Companies in the athletic apparel industry can explore integrating innovative features like arm-length gloves and dimpled fabrics to create complete athletic suits and improve athletic performance.
- Sporting Goods
- Sporting goods companies can explore the use of drag reduction technology and seamless design to create innovative athletic apparel and improve sports performance.
- Sports Technology
- Sports technology companies can explore creating new materials and technologies for drag reduction and seamless design to be integrated into athletic wear and improve sports performance.
