Girls Need Play: adidas X Black Women's Player Collective

October 13, 2021

adidas is announcing a new long-term partnership with the Black Women’s Player Collective (BWPC), a non-profit organization founded by Black women’s professional soccer players in effort to emphasize and improve the representation of Black female athletes in soccer and in society as a whole.

Women athletes are seldom taken seriously, let alone women of color, and although progress has been made, Black women and girls continue to be held back by societal hurdles and restricted access to sports. The Women’s Sports Foundation has found that “77% of female leaders report that lack of exposure to female coaches as role models limits girls’ sports participation,” and that the “drop-out rate for girls of color in urban and rural centers is twice that of suburban white girls.” To combat these statistics, adidas is working with BWPC to create soccer clinics and soccer mini pitches (safe spaces for youth to play) in Black communities as soon as 2022.

Text by Willa Rudolph
Photos courtesy of adidas

Representation is of the utmost importance, and adidas wants girls of color to see people like them playing sports, coaching, and doing so with confidence. “Black women’s voices are essential in soccer and in sports because we need to highlight the women who are playing in this arena for the next generation,” said Imani Dorsey, Women’s professional soccer player and BWPC Board Member.

The goal is to instill a feeling of belonging in these young girls, and give them the opportunity to feel that joy, pride, and strength that comes with playing sports. “This partnership will provide spaces where young girls can go out and experience the sport without constraints as well as providing role models through our collective. What we plan to do with adidas is give young girls the space to know they belong inside and outside the sport,” added Ifeoma Onumonu, Women’s professional soccer player and BWPC Board Member.

In addition to the announced collaboration with adidas, the BWPC is also revealing their new vibrant logo that represents the fervor behind their riotous mission to change the current system. You can show your support and learn more at the BWPC website, their Instagram, the adidas blog, and donate to the Black Women's Player Collective here.

Sports

Football Goes Off the Field

Acording to Venezia FC’s brand director Ted Philipakos, the direction we're headed here is a "product of duality." A play on both modern and traditional elements of coastal life, highlighting the team's home, from all angles. Tough, chic, raw, and soft all at once — see for yourself, but it appears photographer Alessandro Simonetti and stylist John Colver have aced the assignment.

Featuring the dreamy waters of Venice, Venezia’s bold 22/23 pre-match and away shirts are worn by actor Daniele Barison. Colver recalled that as the only non-Italian on the campaigns set, he could tell straight away that Barison was emblematic of the city itself. The intimate portraiture of the images underlined his “local attitude and raw emotion", inspired by his 2021 film “Atlantis”, which encapsulated Venice's unique youth culture.

Commissioned to the Bureau Borsche team, the logo and design of the jersey was reimagined in a new era. Philipakos emphasized that “in developing a new visual identity, we had the opportunity to realign with tradition — most notably by returning the winged lion of Saint Mark to gold, as it had been throughout most of our 114-year history”. Following the team's organic growth over the years, Venezia has met its moment of maturity through heritage and ingenuitiy.

The collection is a small piece of their enormous appreciation for Venice, creating something “stronger than ever before, so that a small club from a small city with a small stadium can feel an outsized significance and punch above its weight.”

Check out the new collection on Venezia's website, launching Thursday, July 21st.

Sports

An All-Star Weekend with Jordan Brand

July 14, 2022

Where were you this weekend? Well, office was all over the Windy City. We dove headfirst into the WNBA All-Star Weekend, luckily, with Jordan Brand to lead the way.

It all kicked off with a launch party at SVRN celebrating the launch of iconic artist Nina Chanel Abney and her multifaceted collaboration with Jordan, featuring an undenyably fresh pair of Air Jordan 2's, and a campaign with legendary photographer Shaniqwa Jarvis. The brands' in forum women's collective debuted the 11-piece collection— which was already sold out by the time we arrived at the star-studded event.

From there, we went behind-the-scenes with a couple Jordan athletes for their WNBA Orange Carpet fittings— linking with our old friends from New York, Kim Shui and Vaquera, who had collaborated with Isabelle Harrison of the Dallas Wings and Arella Guirantes, respectively, on their looks for the evening.

We got the chance to ask none other than Jasmine Jordan herself about the impact of Jordan Brand’s presence at ASW, to which the industry icon astutely replied, "We showed up throughout the weekend, and not just for one day or with one event. Our athletes asked us, as a brand, to show up and we kept our word. Our athletes felt supported and appreciated. We are a Jordan Family and we always want our athletes to know we hear them — and we aim to go above and beyond for them. It is only the beginning, as we will continue to show up for them and make the WNBA All-Star Weekend a premier event."

Text by Anna Zanes
Images by Anna Zanes and Mitchell Connell

Alongside the likes of league legends Sue Bird and Candace Parker, Harrison and Guirantes' bold, couture-infused fits caused a stir on the carpet, solidifying the fact that the WNBA is as much a destination for forward-thinking as the NBA or even fashion week.

And let's not forget to mention the events that followed— to cap off the festivities and further lift all of our spirits before the big game, Jordan threw an unforgettable party for their friends, family, and athletes— and office was honored to secure one of the coveted invites.

Patric Dicaprio, Bryn Taubensee (Vaquera)

Bryn Taubensee (Vaquera), Nina Chanel Abney

Sports

Jordan Brand Teams Up with Nina Chanel Abney

The Chicago born artist constructed the genderless ready-to-wear and footwear collection to unite with the Brand that has inspired her throughout her life in this full-circle moment.

Using her bold and colorful style, Abney blends representation and abstraction to face challenging conversations within her art. As she breaks the rules with her undefinable and iconic art, her wearable work moves towards the democratization of art for the younger generation.