A Magazine Curated By — Issue 30 / Nike

A Magazine Curated By — Issue 30 / NIKE

A MANUAL FOR LIVING CURATED FOR NIKE 

A Magazine Curated By and Nike, Inc. are  pleased to present A Manual For Living Curated for Nike, a special project exploring the internal intelligence of the American sportswear brand after five decades of innovation. The publication functions as a manual, intended as a tool to deepen understanding not only of the human psyche, but also the way in which it connects with others and engages with the world. 

Spanning close to 200 pages, the editorial object is organised into five sections: Mind, Body, Soul, Desire and Imagination. Each section features exercises and challenges meant to be annotated and actioned, informed by the hybrid of sport science, emotional insight and creative practice. 

Contributions come from voices at the centre of Nike’s world alongside artists and practitioners beyond it. 

MIND 
An opening essay on the language of style by Nicholas Schonberger examines the reciprocal relationship between culture and sportswear in redefining one another, and how

Nike’s distinct approach to dressing defined sports and streetwear style. Conceived around a theoretical pillow fight, a team design challenge led by Martin Lotti, Nike’s Chief Design

Officer, and Golnaz Armin, VP of the Design Studio, documented by Kobe Wagstaff, offers a glimpse into the collaborative dynamics within Nike.  

A personality quiz based on colour, using Nike’s proprietary hues, is accompanied by reflections from Korean artist Maia Ruth Lee, American photographer David Benjamin Sherry and Cree-Metis artist Jason Baerg, followed by a separate series of exercises developed with Matt Nurse, Nike’s recently appointed Chief Science Officer, and Poppy Crum, neuroscientist at Stanford, to expand brain perception and the human senses. An interview between twin designers compares and contrasts individual thought and the mechanics of mirrored thinking.  

BODY 
Chinese photographer Zeng Wu, stylist Audrey Hu, make-up artist Valentina Li and hair stylist Ming Hu Zhang offer their futuristic gaze in a photographic series inspired by pre-competition rituals, bringing these archetypes into vivid life. Celebrated chefs Fredrik Berselius, Jason Liu and Sohla & Ham El-Waylly each develop ideal recipes for athletes across different disciplines, documented respectively by photographers Bobby Doherty, Yu Cheng and Laura Murray. An intimate photo essay by American photographer Zora Sicher recalls the contact inherent in sport, as seen through the fundamental expression of touch in everyday life. 

SOUL 
Midway through the publication, a reflective essay by John Hoke III, Nike’s former Chief Innovation Officer, muses on the passage of time and his tenure at the company. British architect Jayden Ali invites Populous’ Chris Lee and Tottenham Hotspur player Lenna Gunning-Williams to discuss the parallel between sports stadiums and religious structures.  Elsewhere, three emerging creatives selected in an interdisciplinary open call join Nike’s VP of Innovation, Janett Nichol, in a dialogue on craft and its legacy. A portfolio of works by Land Art pioneer Lita Albuquerque then guides the reader through a journey of higher consciousness, shaped by pathways taking on the Fibonacci sequence. 

DESIRE 
Prompted by unrealised dreams, John Hoke III challenges Nike’s design team to translate its design language into furniture, resulting in two ‘chA.I.R.’ prototypes created by Carrie McKnelly documented by photographer Logan Jackson in Beaverton, Oregon. Martin Lotti and Serpentine Artistic Director,

A MANUAL FOR LIVING CURATED FOR NIKE 
Hans Ulrich Obrist, reflect on their shared Swiss roots and the obsessions that define their industryleading creative worlds.  

An unreleased collection of accessories developed by Project Goddess, Nike’s internal initiative working with women athletes to redefine beauty as strength in competition, is brought to life in a beauty shoot conceived by French makeup artist Marie Guillon and German photographer Kapfhammer.  

IMAGINATION 
Olympic gold medalist turned Nike team member Ashton Eaton has a candid conversation on design and sport with longtime collaborator Tobie Hatfield. In an ambitious workshop held in Tokyo during the World Athletic Championship, elite women athletes and coaches map out constellations using past role models as stars, collectively reimagining sport and asserting their role in determining its future — and the ownership of their legacy. Closing the publication, a comic strip by writer Geoff Manaugh inspired by Nike physicist Eric King casts an optimistic view on our warming world, showing how innovation sparks hope for the future. 

Selected contributors include:  
Ashton Eaton, Audrey Hu, Bobby Doherty, Chris Lee, David Benjamin Sherry, Eric King, Fredrik Berselius, Geoff Manaugh, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Janett Nichol, Jason Baerg, Jason Liu, Jayden Ali, John Hoke III, Kapfhammer, Kobe Wagstaff, Laura Murray, Laurie Hernandez, Lenna Gunning-Williams, Lita Albuquerque, Logan Jackson, Maia Ruth Lee, Marie Guillon, Martin Lotti, Meg Rapinoe, Michelle Wie West, Minghu Zhang, Naomi Osaka, Nicholas Schonberger, Sky Brown, Sohla & Ham El-Waylly, Sue Bird, Tobie Hatfield, Valentina Li, Zeng Wu, Zora Sicher and more. 

About A MAGAZINE CURATED BY 
A Magazine Curated By explores the universe of one fashion designer in each issue.

Founded in Antwerp 
in 2000, the magazine invites a guest curator to express their aesthetic and cultural values in a unique, collectible document. Each issue celebrates this designer’s ethos: their people, their passion, their stories, emotions, fascinations, spontaneity and authenticity. Every A Magazine Curated By is a new story waiting to be told.