Nike x Martine Rose: gaming culture comes into play

Martine Rose has always been more interested in spaces where subculture flourishes. And that hasn’t changed in this collaboration with Nike. Now, however, she is shifting her focus to a new playing field, never better said: gaming. 

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In their new collection, Nike x Martine Rose Sport, athletes compete behind a screen. But the code remains the same. Rose, who talks a lot in her universe about society’s invisible heroes, understands it this way: ‘Anyone can be a hero. In gaming, skill and mind matter more than physical strength. It’s a space that celebrates what is often rejected outside of it.’

The campaign puts a face to that idea with a cast that is pure gold for any gamer: ANa, three-time Counter-Strike world champion; Billy Mitchell, one of the first arcade champions in history; Scarlett, StarCraft II legend; SonicFox, seven-time EVO world champion and non-binary gaming icon; and TenZ, one of the best Valorant players in the world.

So yes, Burberry has its muses, but Martine Rose has her gamers. And what she does here is elevate them to the same level of heroism as Serena Williams or Ronaldo in the 2000s. The aesthetic is reminiscent of vintage Nike adverts: grainy light, 90s energy and a certain LAN party nostalgia.

Looking at the clothing in detail, the collection is pure Martine Rose: loose-fitting tracksuits, technical jackets, football silhouettes reinterpreted with her usual irony. The hoodie and track pants come in an enzyme wash gradient reminiscent of the unique look of her SS15 collection—worn, lived-in, credible.

The colour red runs through the entire capsule like a pulse of energy: a direct reference to grime culture and the first wave of Shox heads who turned trainers into a symbol of street identity. The reinterpretation of the football kit also recovers that idea of the uniform as a space of belonging, but now translated into another type of kit: the digital one.

The ski parka and crossbody bag amplify the nostalgia. There’s something of the 90s in every stitch: functional techwear, internal pockets, materials that look like they’ve been taken from a nightclub or a party in a Hackney garage.

And, of course, the Shox MR4 — that impossible mix between formal shoe and sneaker of the future — is back in new colours: white and silver (seen on the SS26 catwalk) and total red, exclusive to martine-rose.com.

What Martine Rose proposes with Nike is not a collection about video games, but about what sport means today. Gaming as a new arena of representation. Nike, which has always thrived on muscle, understands here that it doesn’t just move in stadiums. It also moves on keyboards, in online tournaments and in spaces where the word “game” is redefined.