With the announcement of a new sneaker boutique, Nike Unlaced, Nike positions a fresh future for women and opens up access with expanded sizing.
UNLACED will launch digitally on March 27th, with brick-and-mortar store launching this Fall 2018.
Here’s four ways Nike is thinking about women’s sneakers differently:
Expanded Sizing
Unisex sizing on select classic Jordan styles and collaborative collections such as Virgil Abloh x Nike The TEN recognizes the universality of sneaker culture and reduces the frustration of missing out due to size unavailability. In the fall, expanded sizes will extend to iconic silos, including the Nike Air Force 1 and Air Max lines, providing ever-increasing options to collect, rock or stock.
Unique Retail Experiences
A curated selection of sneakers, inclusive of expanded sizes, innovative performance styles and iconic collaborations, presents a holistic view that forms the backbone of Nike Unlaced, NIKE, Inc.’s new sneaker destination for women.
Nike Unlaced is a global digital and retail concept that follows a Nike dot-com evolution in Europe, which provided distinction for women through product styling and local curators. (In North America, the Nike x Nordstrom sneaker boutique retail and digital experience, co-created with Olivia Kim, also served as a precursor.) Local Nike Unlaced product curations by influential creatives and stylists from New York, Paris, London, Shanghai and more are coming soon.
Exclusive Releases
From personalized styling to VIP member experiences (including same-day delivery and exclusive hours), these services offered by Nike Unlaced are designed to increase connectivity and access to sneakers for women. For example, members will have the opportunity to arrange one-on-one appointments with guest stylists and take their prized selections home in specialized packaging.
New Voices
As sneakers transcended sport and initiated street-style trends, collaboration became an integral component of sneaker culture, blossoming into a symbiotic relationship between brands and external creative communities.
That community has been predominantly male. However, in pushing new female voices, Nike is challenging the sneaker status quo.
