Nike Stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson on the Radical Act of Self-Expression
- June 23, 2024
What is style, if not a means to bear our inner selves, to bring the interior exterior, and to shine outwardly from within? This is a question that Gabriella Karefa-Johnson constantly asks — and answers — in her work as a stylist. Her narrative approach is bringing more diversity (and, if you ask us, more excitement, more joy, more everything) to fashion. And as the Nike Women’s Global Stylist, she is taking her ethos to the next level, finding inspiration through athletes and sport.
The basic style principles revolve around our personal impulses in the way we dress — never succumbing to what is expected, yielding only to what feels right for us, she insists. The only rule, in other words, is to DO YOU. Do all you can to make your own space, and watch the world yield to it.
Fashion is a mirror. It reflects our times — socially, culturally, politically. It’s a reflection of the life that we lead individually and the world that we live in.
Athletes, like all humans, are not one dimensional. They exist in multitudes. And how they present in sport, on the court, off the court, in the tunnel — all of that is an important part in their performance, because it’s an important part of who they are. And it’s the women athletes who are leading the way.
The ways we express ourselves in sport are much closer to fashion than you might think. It’s athletes who make the sport and not the other way around. The power is in the individual.
And it’s as much about who you are as a person as it is how well you perform. Sure, you want to win — but to be your personal best, to stand out like you want to stand out. Style has always been a variable in that equation.
Words and images from the Nike Women Zine, Volume 1.