This year, 2021, is a big year for skateboarding as it will be one of the five new sports making their debut at the Tokyo Olympic Games later this summer. Nike SB is helping amplify this milestone moment with its official athlete Federation Kits for the United States, Japan, France,and Brazil, each of which were designed by Dutch artist and longtime Nike collaborator Piet Parra. 

The kits are constructed using woven yarns to help wick away moisture, while keeping the riders cool. And to match The Games’ sustainability initiatives, the jerseys are also made with recycled polyester waste. 

This isn’t the first time Nike opted for more Earth-friendly materials in official competition uniforms and apparel. The global sportwear brand introduced national federation football kits for 28 countries in 2018, all utilizing fine yarn developed from melting down 12 to 18 recycled plastic drinking bottles. Nike also introduced Liverpool FC kits for the 2020-21 season that were created using 100% recycled polyester fabric.

Nike SB looks to continue the momentum on the global stage with kits that, as the brand says, “invite a new kind of fandom to the sport, and one that is still authentic to the skate community.” 

The kit designs bring to life recognizable elements of each respective country in Parra’s signature Pantone palette of turquoise, magenta and pink. The cityscapes are at the heart of each design which serves as a nod to the creativity in Nike SB collaborations and the larger skateboarding culture. 

“When we talked to Piet about the designs, we asked him, ‘Take what’s happening in Tokyo out of the picture for a second; if you were to make a kit on your own, what would it be?’” said Donavan Harris, who worked as the Nike Design Lead for the kits. “We started to see the natural connections between a landscape and the act of skating. You don’t skate in a vacuum. Everything that’s around you plays a role in drawing new lines.”

Each kit construction also connects back to other sports popular in each country: a baseball jersey for Japan, a basketball jersey for the United States, a tennis polo for France, and a soccer kit for Brazil. 

The Parra x Nike SB Federation Kits will release on July 17 at select skate shops, and July 20 via SNKRS. To learn more about Nikes sustainability commitments and Move to Zero program, go to nike.com/sustainability.

In similar news, PANGAIA recently unveiled its first-ever performance activewear range.