Teammates who double as Air Max expert stylists? Just another day at Nike. Watch as three employees from our Shanghai office get a workday surprise when they receive head-to-toe makeovers while rocking the new Nike Air Max Dn, which released yesterday on Air Max Day.
Today marks 10 years of Air Max Day, and to celebrate, we’re sharing the behind-the-scenes story of creating the boldest look Max has seen in decades: the Nike Air Max Dn. “For us, it meant going back to the roots of Air,” says Nike Product Director Reggie Hunter, who helped lead the team that reimagined the platform. “I think what made Air Max originally so special was that it was developed for performance running, and those shoes felt responsive and were low to the ground. They looked fast, sleek, sophisticated. We wanted to revive this look and feel — and that was how the Nike Air Max Dn was born.”
“I wanted to represent the tall-plus-size girl and really rock the beauty of being tall.” That’s Kym Hampton, a Nike North America Marketing Specialist, Community Partners, talking about the swagger she brought to the Air for everyWON Body Inclusivity Fashion Show, which featured 35 employee models from across the company and our NikeUNITED Networks. “It’s important to celebrate all bodies and all expressions,” she continues. “At the end of the day, we all want to be seen, heard and made to feel we matter. As a former professional athlete, I wanted to show how Nike’s apparel for tall-plus-sized women is evolving.” Every model’s look featured apparel from our spring collections and showcased decades of Nike Air Max innovation — including the Air Max Dn, which launches TOMORROW on Air Max Day.
To celebrate Women’s History Month, our Women of Nike and Friends Network led a body-inclusivity fashion show featuring 35 employee models from across the company and our NikeUNITED Networks. Every model’s look featured apparel from our spring collections and showcased decades of Nike Air Max innovation — including the Air Max Dn, which launches on Air Max Day, March 26th.
We believe in the power of community. It’s through community that our company pursues its vision of creating a better world for all athletes — one that’s inclusive, equitable, diverse and sustainable. Our FY23 NIKE, Inc. Impact Report, which includes Jordan Brand and Converse, highlights the progress we’re making: helping to bring more kids into sport, championing creativity and self-expression for youth, creating a more resilient future for athletes and building equity inside and out of the company.
As a senior engineer with Nike’s Air Manufacturing Innovation (Air MI) team, Kristina Nardoni is sworn to secrecy. That’s because she’s at the forefront of Air Bag manufacturing that will appear on Nike’s newest shoes, like the ones you’ll see this summer. She started at Nike in 2017. Previously, her jobs had been in process engineering related to high-voltage equipment. A mentor told her about an opening for a Nike industrial engineering position out of the Air MI facility in Saint Charles, MO. Seven years later, she is using her experience to help launch new products and continue to improve Air Bags that have been beloved for years. “Industrial engineers are working from a zoomed-out place thinking about a system at large,” says Nardoni. “Some people are most concerned about the Air Bag being used. Others are interested in the machines. We get to look the whole system." Nardoni’s deep look at the whole system is also her filter for seeing the holistic development of her own skills. Through Nike’s tuition reimbursement program, Krissy is earning her master's degree in management. She's taking a class at a time, and if she earns an A or a B, she gets reimbursed for the class. Her advice to Nike employees: Learn as much as you can. Take advantage of the learning programs that are offered at the company. Be a sponge. “If you see a maintenance technician fixing a chiller at your workplace, ask what they’re working on,” she says. “You never know what you might learn.”
Join us in honoring World Engineering Day by exploring the stories of the brilliant minds behind Nike's success. Discover how our engineers are making a difference across various facets of our company and feel inspired to embark on your engineering journey of innovation with Nike!
Last week, we had the privilege of sitting down with All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo to hear his reflections on his inspiring career. Employees also got an exclusive, first-look screening of “Giannis: The Marvelous Journey,” which released yesterday on major streaming platforms. And talk about full circle: Interviewing Giannis was none other than Susan Mulders, Sr. Director, North America, Sports Marketing for Nike Basketball, who signed Giannis to his first Nike athlete deal in 2013. See how a signature athlete like Giannis grows the game across the world.
Today's the day: the KD 4 Galaxy, the hit colorway of Kevin Durant's fourth signature shoe, is dropping on SNKRS. The original released right before the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, in which KD dropped 36 points and won the game's MVP. Throwing things back to last year's JDI Day, when KD put on a clinic (literally) for our employees on how to shoot the rock from deep.
Nine major U.S. cities. Seventy-eight youth organizations. Two partners who share a common vision: create a space for all girls who ball to find joy in play, and feel seen, empowered and connected to a community — on and off the basketball court. Beginning in 2021, Nike partnered with DICK'S Sporting Goods (DSG) to create “It’s Her Shot,” an experience that hosts hundreds of young girls for games, clinics and programs. The beauty of this partnership, says Mindy Helmer, is in the shared values. The Nike Director of Partner Marketing helps lead conversations between Nike and DSG on how sport can, and should, leave a positive impact on everyone, especially girls. “One of the special parts about working at Nike is getting to work across so many different groups to do a project,” says Helmer, who’s been in the job for nearly three years. “From Social & Community Impact to Communications to Sports Marketing, everyone involved in the program is just as passionate as I am about giving these girls an incredible experience and a newfound community through sport. This project has been a culmination of everything I’ve believed in during my 13-year Nike career about helping young girls find a sense of belonging.” And it's not the only example. Learn more about Nike’s unique partnership to help build body confidence in girls.
