adidas Full Cover Wear: Modest Sportswear and Intersectional Inclusivity
Image source: adidas
In 2019 I was asked to support the adidas team on a simple idea:
How do we make sports more accessible?
When the swim team first met with me, they laid out research over research on what I’ve known to be true from personal experience:
That many women are still prevented from being around and in water.
That’s where the journey towards what is now known as the adidas Full Cover Swimwear started.
The background
The first restrictions women who cover were broadcasted to the world in 2016 when images of French police forcing a woman to remove her burkini on a beach in Nice made the news.
Some of the discussions compared similar policing of 1925 vs 2016. “90 years later and we're still policing women on what they wear to the beach.”
Image source: vantagenews.com
The question has been, seemingly since forever: When will it be OK for women to wear what they want?
To solve the inherent limitations for women around the world to gain equity in the industry, we have to start with enablement and access.
As a sports brand, adidas’ teams gather around the purpose Through sports we have the power to change lives.
For the team working on creating more access, diversifying our product offering was the first step to bring that belief to life.
As the co-lead of the faith-inclusive community adidas Bless Up, my team and I are often pulled into faith and culture topics to provide consultancy, testing, and feedback as well as marketing insights on how to best communicate those purpose topics to diverse communities.
“This is a project that is close to my heart and I am incredibly proud to support a campaign that will remove barriers for women across the world to enjoy swimming.”
- Asma Elbadawi
Image source: adidas.com
As this specific topic was initiated by the women-led swim team, I was especially excited. Our first brainstorming sessions were only the start of a journey towards modest sportswear for women around the world.
Driven by Sybille Baumann, Senior Product Manager adidas Swimwear, we had many meetings discussing the needs for women athletes who dress modestly.
The modest consumer
Modest fashion is predicted to reach $402 billion by 2024.
- DinarStandard Report 2018
Modest fashion is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the fashion industry. While the Muslim consumer market has great spending power, there haven’t been many brands providing the market with exciting and innovative solutions.
Unlike popular belief, modest wear is not only worn by Muslim women who wear the hijab. But also Muslim, Christian, and Jewish women who have their own definition of modesty and might or might not cover their hair (I recommend watching Netflix’s ‘Follow This’ Series featuring a modest fashion episode).
Modest wear is also worn in different cultures and communities within Asia and Africa, regardless of faith or belief system. Women with skin conditions or who prefer to cover themselves from the sun are also part of the modest consumer. And of course, modest clothing is a form of personal style and preference (which reignited with Gen Z modest fashion movements and the fight against sexism).
Therefore, the offerings that brands provide in the field should be flexible and respectful of the diversity within the consumer market.
Apart from offering the modest clothing basics (e.g. longer hemlines and sleeves, higher necklines, and garments that are looser and non-transparent), it’s important to offer variety and combinations. For instance, when it comes to head coverings, offering turbans alongside hijabs is already a good start to be more inclusive of the innate diversity within the Muslim consumer market.
Intersectional inclusion
It was important for the team to understand the unique realities of women around the world who are looking for accessible modest sportswear.
The diversity of the modest consumer goes beyond the definition of modesty but affects intersectional identities such as
Faith & Culture,
Race and ethnicity,
Ability,
Age,
and more.
Intersectionality emphasizes how our numerous social identities influence our daily lives. It also shows how these identities are linked to larger institutions of privilege and oppression.
Within the Muslim and by extension modest consumer market, there are women who are often underrepresented including Black women, women with disabilities, skin conditions, and women of all body shapes.
That is why when approaching the creation and marketing of the adidas modest sportswear line, intersectional communities were a big part of the process.
adidas Full-Cover Swimwear Collection
To continue the drive to offer a wider choice of technical apparel for athletes everywhere, the adidas Full-Cover Swimwear collection was created with inclusion at its core.
Community-driven
Community involvement was important, as consumer insights about the modest sportswear consumer can be misleading, one-sided, and often only gathered within Muslim majority countries (which ignores the presence and unique experiences of Muslim diaspora athletes around the world).
“It went through several rounds of testing, in collaboration with our communities around the globe, and that process was invaluable.” - Sybille Baumann
While company communities can be a great place to start, it’s also important to connect to external communities that can gather more location-specific insights. Testing went to multiple parts of the world which is specifically important as modest fashion is worn differently across the world. Modest style in Indonesia was very different than it is in Europe, the US, or the UAE.
Freedom of choice
The collection was created with the thoughts of variety and freedom of personal style, while still enabling various interpretations of modesty.
The pieces can be bought independently so that athletes can pick whether they want the full swimsuit including pants, long-sleeve swim top, adjustable inner cap, and swim hijab (or turban). Or they can buy the outfit without head covering, for women who simply want high coverage on arms and legs.
Image source: adidas
It was important to show how diverse “modest wear” really is and give options to those women who cover for various reasons. Including faith and cultural preference, personal style, skin conditions, SPF protection, and more.
Purpose marketing
Instead of simply creating a top-down approach to communicating the modest swimwear collection, the team reached out to real women to give a platform to their stories.
Give our voices, our stories a platform. We know best how to represent ourselves and what we stand for. And we have so much more in common with each other than many think.
Give our diversity a space to shine.
Featuring spoken word-artist and sports inclusivity activist, Asma Elbadawi, the heart of the campaign is a specially commissioned poem of her that celebrates her relationship with the water and the confidence it can bring to all women.
“Sport never judges you, that is why we love it and I am passionate about finding ways to ensure we can provide a level playing field for all. Sadly that is not always possible, but gone are the days where sport apparel needs should be a barrier to entry, especially when it comes to being in and around the water.” - Asma Elbadawi
The campaign also amplified the experiences of other underrepresented women in the sports field and in swim particularly.
Image source: adidas
Sustainability and environment consciousness
For a lot of people of faith, sustainability is at the heart of how life should be lived.
Social and environmental consciousness is the basis of many faith values. For the modest wear market, and specifically, the Muslim consumer sustainability is part of what is defined as halal consumer behavior.
“Muslim millennials, in particular, are driving the demand for modest clothing that reflects their halal needs throughout the whole supply chain. An authentic, 360-degree approach to sustainability is key here, tackling ethical issues from Fairtrade working conditions to material solutions - all without compromising on style.” - Fashion & Beauty Through a Modest Lens, Stylus
What many consumers are looking out for is how the clothes they buy affect their environment. That is why creating a swimsuit that is sustainable was important.
As part of our adidas ongoing commitment to more sustainable design, all are crafted with a chlorine-resistant fabric that features Econyl® regenerated yarn.
Image source: adidas.com
adidas Primeblue material - is a high-performance recycled material made in part with Parley Ocean Plastic—upcycled plastic waste, intercepted on remote islands, beaches, and coastal communities.
Local activation - Dubai
Throughout the entire project, special recognition also belongs to the adidas Emerging markets team, who drove exciting local activations across the region.
Including the world’s first-ever liquid billboard in Kite Beach, Dubai.
“A concept that celebrates the power of water and its ability to defy restrictions, bring renewal and accept everyone unconditionally.” says Paul O’Connor, Director Brand Communications in Dubai, “This ground-breaking activation, saw the reveal of an incredible 5-meter high and three-meter-deep swimming pool. The liquid billboard could fit around 3,319 adidas shoe boxes and is made of reinforced transparent acrylic. Its walls can hold a whopping 11,500 gallons of water equivalent to nearly 163 bathtubs! The structure took a team of 32 people to build, working around the clock for 3 weeks to deliver.”
Throughout the whole project, teams from across the globe were involved in designing, creating, and activating the adidas first Full Cover Swimwear collection.
If you want to check out the entire collection, go to adidas.com/swim or find more modest sportswear via adidas.com/us/modest-wear.
Conclusion
The modest wear market is global, diverse, and demands inclusion.
Specifically, modest sportswear is not only a fashion trend but a must to create access for young women athletes who choose to cover.
Don’t be shy to ask for support.
Meaningful change in any industry doesn’t come from only one or two people. It takes a village.
Bridging the gap between culture and creativity takes a close connection with internal and external communities.
The importance of keeping communities, and athletes front and center continues to be relevant as modest sportswear attracts more and more attention from brands globally.
Inclusivity shouldn’t just be a marketing strategy, it should be lived in every aspect of your brand’s Purpose work.
Because consumers will understand the difference between “branded wokeness” and “woke branding”.
Access and amplification should be at the forefront of your purpose activations, to not only talk but actually create a lasting impact for your consumers around the world.
- Sina
