Nike’s latest eyewear innovation is a major mind over matter moment. A veteran in the athletic sunglasses game, Nike has released two new frames that barely look like they belong in it. Meet the Nike Athena and Nike Zeus.
Designed to be worn before or after tearing up your respective track or field, the gender-neutral sunnies are objectively out-there. But that’s on purpose. .
“While we were initially focused on designing something for competition, the insight we heard from our athletes is the need for a mental edge or advantage, before and after competing,” says Nike’s Chief Innovation Officer, John Hoke, in a press release. These aren’t your average sportswear frames: Nike made the Athena and Zeus to provoke opponents and amplify personal expression.
This concept of sporty shades designed to be worn when you aren’t competing is on par with the athleisure-heavy influence that’s infiltrated fashion by way of sporty eyewear brands like Oakley before trickling into collections from Stussy and Gentle Monster.
Both of Nike’s new glasses match each other’s eclectic freak but are also wildly different. Both will also soon be available on Nike’s website.
The Nike Athena is the wilder of the two styles, breaking the mold with an asymmetric shape: One eye is higher than the other. The funky stylistic choice serves no functional purpose beyond giving the Athena some aesthetic pizzazz — and maybe intimidating the competition.
The sunglasses also can be adjusted to sit further away from the face, bypassing the dreaded smushing of the lashes caused by glasses with less depth.
Meanwhile, the Nike Zeus resembles a protective mask. The sleek and sharp silhouette and insect-like lenses, give the glasses a need-for-speed vibe, even if they are meant to be worn off the field.
These zany shades may be an acquired taste for a few bug eye-related reasons. But since they’re intended to strike fear into competitors’ hearts, that’s partially the point.