Nike taps into Yoruba culture for new Super Eagles jerseys

Following up on the success of the 2018 kits, Nike tapped into Yoruba traditional art movements to design the new kits.

Two years after stoking world-wide admiration with the successful Super Eagles jerseys, Nike is out with another set of strips for Nigeria’s national teams.

Nike on Wednesday, February 5, 2020, unveiled a home and away jersey for the Super Eagles ahead of the qualifiers for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

For these new jerseys, Nike draws inspiration from Nigerian arts movements for the designs.

The home kit was inspired by the traditional aesthetic of Agbada, a four-piece attire found among the Yoruba of southwestern Nigeria although it has become popular in mainstream Nigeria. The pitch green and white patterns hang on the shoulders just like an Agbada.

“The kit’s pattern was hand-drawn and is highly symbolic of Nigerian heritage with nods to nobility and family,” Nike says in a statement on their website.

For the away kit, Nike taps in Yoruba artistic movement called Onaism which is a contemporary recreation of the forms and philosophies of traditional Yoruba art and design. Nike revives this Yoruba artform with an eagle feather which is “creatively distorted, continuously repeats in ascending size to create a visual impact” in the dark grey strip. The pitch green and white patterns are also found in the V-shaped collar and sleeves.

An extensive collection of the Super Eagles apparel including a poncho, vest, dress and more will be released at a later date.

Nike on Wednesday also released the jerseys for the United States, Korea with traditional inspired themes. Kits for other countries will be unveiled in the coming months.

According to the sportswear giant, it took this approach to build upon the learnings from the hugely successful Super Eagles jerseys of 2018.

“Building upon the learnings from the successful 2018 Nigeria Collection, Nike undertook deep cultural immersions and collaborated with each federation to ensure the designs truly resonated,” Nike says.