- Created in close collaboration with athletes with and without a disability, most of adidas’ on and off field pieces feature key design edits to enable all to participate in comfort
- adidas launches adaptive training wear pieces for the first time and introduces the brand’s first pattern and finishes crafted specifically for athletes who play sports while seated or in a wheelchair
- Product featuring universal design – including the adaptive training outfit – are available from 19th April, on www.adidas.com and at key retailers
Today, at the reveal of the adidas kits for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sports brand has announced that 86% of pieces of apparel worn on and off the field of play have been created using design principles that ensure they work for athletes with and without a disability.
To build the collection, adidas designers and engineers spent two years working collaboratively with the best in the game to ensure an athlete-first fit, including ParalympicsGB, Team D Paralympics, Brooklyn Nets and wheelchair basketball teams in Germany. The resulting range, and specific adaptive training outfit within, are crafted to enable all who want to participate, to do so; in comfort, and without distraction.
“Over a billion people in the world are estimated to live with a disability[1]. Our role as a leading maker of sportswear is to remove the barriers they face in sport, to help reach a parity in service for Olympic and Paralympic competitors, and to learn from this community to benefit all.” Said Jacqueline King, Design Director, adidas.
Applying universal design to official teamwear
Based on extensive collaboration with ParalympicsGB and Team D Paralympics, 86%*[2]of competition, podium, village and training wear* in the collections of adidas’ sponsored teams for Paris are selected and designed to make them work for all athletes.
From the feedback it was clear that National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee teams were looking for one consistent collection that offered customisation to work around specific needs. So adidas designers, engineers and fabricators crafted key adaptation points that informed product edits across all sports.
These considerations – applied in varying ways across the collections – include smart placement and/or inclusion of seams, avoiding light colours on the cuffs of performance wear to optimise aesthetics following dirt transfer from wheels, using soft threading where possible, moving team iconography from covered areas – such as the lower back – onto those that are visible while seated, changing trims to be adaptive-first to work around limited movement, removal of any complicated fastenings including small buttons or zips, and offering zipped ankle cuffs for ease of dressing for those with limb difference, and opening a wider range of product lengths for athletes of different heights.
Introducing an adaptive training wear outfit – an essential training outfit built for athletes who use wheelchairs
The two-year research project also enabled the team to look specifically into the experience of those competing in sports played while seated or in wheelchairs – particularly wheelchair basketball - alongside the ParalympicsGB team including Ali Jawad and Lauren Rowles.
“This insight was invaluable, as it allowed us to truly understand the relationship between the athlete, their wheelchairs and their apparel, and the impact on comfort, if the latter wasn’t optimised.” Said Jacqueline King, Design Director, adidas. “This enabled us to create a pattern blueprint that you’re seeing in the adaptive training wear but it also enabled us to build an approach to broader design that you’re seeing across the wider range.”
Through the development of this new pattern, the capsule outfit is designed to work when training for sports played while seated or in a wheelchair, by helping to prevent distraction and discomfort, and delivering optimal coverage during sport. Key to the design was considering how well the garment fits, how it makes our athletes feel, and how functional it is to get on or off? These learnings were applied to a shaped workout t-shirt and pant – available for men and women - via thoughtful construction that maps key areas of irritation with reduced seams and soft threading to help minimise interactivity with skin. The pieces are optimised for those who are training to compete in seated sports - such as rowing and volleyball, and sports played in a wheelchair, like basketball.
- The Training Adaptive Workout T-Shirt comes in a new smart seam pattern which minimizes material bunching to the front and rear while seated, and offers an under-arm gusset to enable freedom of movement. Meanwhile two slits at the front help to provide additional shaping.
- This is complemented by the Training Adaptive Workout Pant, which helps avoid discomfort and abrasions thanks to a pattern cut to remove the centre-back seam, and ensure the back is covered in seated positions during workout movements – which could otherwise lead to skin irritation against the fabric of the chair. It also comes with the option to order an extended leg length for taller athletes.
Completing adaptive training wear is a considered approach to material selection and application. At request from athletes looking for visual consistency, they’re crafted from materials carefully selected from wider training collections for their stretch properties for freedom of movement, durability when interacting with supportive equipment and comfort against the skin. These are applied in key areas including extra soft materials on the waistband of the pant, and use of soft seam tapes to reduce skin irritation. Mesh fabrication in t-shirts complete the design to ensure breathability in key areas where body and wheelchair connect.
Adaptive training wear pieces are available from 1st June, on adidas.com, within our biggest retail stores around the world, and selected retailers worldwide, while product featuring universal design will be available from 19th April, on www.adidas.com and at key retailers.
For further information please visit www.adidas.com or follow @adidas on Instagram to join the conversation.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About adidas
adidas is a global leader in the sporting goods industry. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach/Germany, the company employs more than 59,000 people across the globe and generated sales of € 21.4 billion in 2023.
For more information, please visit www.adidas-Group.com.
Please note the collection, and supporting communication, have been created in close collaboration with athletes with a disability, to ensure they’re built with and for the community. For guidance on relevant language to tell these stories – please consult the UN’s Disability Inclusive Communications Guidelines
[1] World Health Organisation
[2] 196 out of 227 base styles are selected using universal design principles
