Nike Used Athlete Performance Data to Design Apparel and It Sure Is Something

Apparel brands are looking for more ways to stand out in a crowded market, and data has become the latest tool making an impact. Nike seems to be the most recent company looking to give big data a chance, and its new Advanced Apparel Exploration line is the result.

According to dezeen, the Advanced Apparel Exploration collection 1.0 is the first in a series of data-based clothing collections that Nike is launching. The collection includes nine pieces created by a knitting machine fed performance data, and it features extra ventilation and coverage.

Credit: dezeen

"In apparel design, we have forever been combining multiple materials, depending on the problem we are solving, often resulting in the build up of seams and complexity," said Kurt Parker, Nike's vice president of apparel design. "Sometimes this creates a new problem as we are solving another. Over time, our understanding of the body in motion and new manufacturing techniques have started to converge."

The data Nike used, including digital body maps, motion maps, airflow maps, sweat and heat maps, was collected from numerous athletes over the years.

"Specifically, motion maps were considered alongside how the body reacts in different environments," said Nike. "Special focus was placed on modern urban environments, from the subway and the street to the office and the club, and the massive temperature and humidity fluctuations that occur in these various places."

Credit: dezeen

Nike designers then worked with Nike Flyknit engineers and computation designers to input this data into knitting machines to create seamless pieces with better performance capabilities.

What's really astounding is what the pieces ended up looking like. These new clothes look like nothing Nike has ever released before, and they certainly look like they're ready for movement. It will be interesting to see if this collection ends up proving successful for the company, and if shoppers even notice a difference in these data-based clothes.