Martine Rose and Nike are further exploring women’s football with a new tailoring collection.
Along with the collection came a fusion of two seemingly contradictory footwear staples – the quintessential dress shoe and the Nike Shox R4. The resulting Nike x Martine Rose Shox Mule MR 4 for 2023 is featured in two vibrant gradient hues – yellow/orange and blue/purple, the latter first seen on Martine Rose’s autumn/winter ‘23 runway at Pitti Uomo in January, the brand’s debut show outside of London.
A third rendition, black with a paint splatter print, rounds out the line-up and each of the three colorways, which draw inspiration from the famously vibrant goalkeeper jerseys of the 1990s.
For this style, Rose manipulated proportions to stretch the original silhouette into a mule shape. The Shox’s columns are lifted into a heel and the toe is squared-off, adopting the formal dress shoe aesthetic. According to Nike, the silhouette acts as a signal of what’s to come from the athletic brand and Martine Rose later in the year.
Additional pieces from the Nike x Martine Rose Collection features a player’s suit jacket, trouser, trench and shirt, stockings, gloves and sunglasses. Nike added in a statement that the Rose was inspired by the opportunity to design for elite female athletes in a style befitting their status, particularly when en route to career-defining international tournaments.
Reflecting on the process creating this collection – her fullest to date with Nike – Rose said in a statement that she wants women to feel powerful in their suits like men do. “More than that, although I’m using women to tell the story, there’s no gender attached to the suit, anyone wear it,” Rose said. “I hope one day we’re not talking about gender in sport and are just talking about the sport – once everything is stripped back, it’s just the game that’s left.”
“I love the mash-up that sports and fashion and culture has become, and as an athlete, I’ve always wanted what we wear to stand for more,” Megan Rapinoe, Nike athlete, United States women’s national team member, and a muse for the Nike x Martine Rose Collection, added in a statement. “I think Martine, as a designer inspired by sports culture, is able to pull so much meaning into her work, and for her to be able to express herself through this moment that is so special to us is really cool — and obviously the pieces are just dope.”
In 2021, the Nike x Martine Rose “The Lost Lionesses” Jersey was a genderless tribute to England’s fearless women’s team of 1971, who were written out of the history books despite their achievements.
The following year, Rose’s Nike Shox MR4 campaign – launched during the Women’s Euros – championed the unsung heroes of women’s football. From Hope Powell, the first full time England Women coach and first Black England coach, to Ruth Ruano, the footballer and pilot who went viral for breastfeeding her daughter in the dugout, a series of brilliant footballing women were profiled and celebrated.
The newest Nike x Martine Rose collection will be available exclusively on Martine-Rose.com on July 25 and on SNKRS and at select specialty stores July 27.
