Behind the Scenes of Creating Arianna Fontana's One-of-One Performance Jacket
- February 10, 2026
The power of design is how it can reveal details about the wearer. That was the exact spirit behind the custom Air Milano jacket that Nike created for Arianna Fontana, the most decorated short‑track speed skater in Olympic history.
Fontana isn’t just an icon in her sport. She’s a force of nature. “From the start, we knew her jacket needed to honor that legacy with the same level of intention, craft, and storytelling that she brings to every competition,” says Danielle Kayembe, Expert in Apparel Product Innovation Management. Every element of the jacket was designed specifically for Fontana, she says, from the sculptural form to sweeping baffles to bold geometry and architectural shaping. Unlike any A.I.R. piece Nike’s made before, Kayembe says the jacket echoes the work of Italian Futurists: dynamic, expressive and built around movement.
Most important, when Fontana put the jacket on, she felt exactly the way the team hoped she would: confident, bold, and ready to make a statement. And that’s the power of designing with, and for, an athlete — turning their story into something they can wear and step into with pride and making them feel unstoppable.
Watch how the process unfolded here.
