The latest Nike N7 Collection pays homage to Indigenous culture and its “interconnectedness with nature while helping preserve and showcase Native traditions.”

The collection includes men’s and women’s apparel pieces are rooted in Native history and exclusive colorways of the Nike Dunk lifestyle sneaker and KD17 basketball shoe.

Nike partnered with Indigenous artist Chelysa “Chief” Owens-Cyr, who brings a contemporary take on Native American art to the N7 collection. She is a member of the Fort Peck tribes of Northeastern Montana and Pasqua First Nations in Saskatchewan, Canada. Her designs take inspiration from traditional beadwork and ledger art, a form of narrative drawing or painting on paper or cloth predominantly practiced by Plains Indians during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Owens-Cyr expresses the influence of ledger art depicting home, culture, tribes, and community on a men’s Club Fleece, long-sleeve Drift T-shirt, DNA short, and women’s Essential Mock long-sleeve top.

For example, the Club Fleece and Essential Mock top includes a mirrored, geometric design that reflects teachings from the Lakota people, who believe what is on earth is represented above in the afterlife: “as above, so below.” The triangles at the center of the design represent the four seasons, cardinal directions, and emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual balance. The horizontal extensions of the design represent the eagle, a central figure in Native American culture.

“I want Native youth to feel represented, strengthened, and empowered by this collection, which takes inspiration from what you would historically see in beadwork or other traditional wear and applies it to modern, contemporary clothing,” said Owens-Cyr. “It’s a good representation of my people to be able to share my culture and voice with not only Indigenous communities but the whole world. The Lakota term I’d connect with it is ‘Mitakuye Oyasin,’ which means all my relations, we are all connected, we are one.”

The KD17 basketball shoe, NBA Kevin Durant’s fourth N7 model, features a turquoise colorway designed for the collection, with an embroidered N7 logo on the tongue, and a geometric Lakota/Dakota design on the left heel that represents themes of ancestry, strength and culture. The Dunk Low  includes the same turquoise color with nods to N7 on the tongue.

Basketball player Alissa Pili is the face of the N7 campaign and a Native American athlete.

The collection’s release and campaign are timed to coincide with Native American Heritage Month and the opening of grant applications for Nike’s N7 Fund.

Since 2022, Nike reported that it has “invested $625,000 in N7 Fund grants annually, administered by CAF America, to nonprofits that are powering the future of youth sport. This investment continues the brand’s legacy of support for Indigenous communities through the N7 Fund and other grants totaling $12.1 million to more than 300 organizations since 2009.  Nonprofits can apply for N7 Fund grants through January 6, 2025.”

This season’s Nike N7 Collection is available globally at nike.com and select retail locations.

Images courtesy Nike