Nike and One Piece have joined forces on a new collection inspired by the globally recognized manga series, translating its characters, powers and visual language into footwear and apparel.
SPORTSWEAR
The collaboration centers on the Air Max Plus, with three versions of the silhouette taking inspiration from the Devil Fruits featured throughout the One Piece storyline. In the manga, these fruits grant unique superhuman abilities to those who consume them.
Nike developed the project around the idea of transformation, connecting the powers unlocked by the Devil Fruits with the feeling athletes experience when putting on a pair of Nike shoes.
“We were inspired by the superhuman abilities that are unleashed when One Piece characters eat the Devil Fruits, much like the feeling an athlete has when they put on a pair of Nikes,” said Nick Remlinger, GM, Energy Gaming, Nike. “We then started reimagining the beloved Air Max Plus in a way that fans of the silhouette have never seen before.”
The three designs draw from the Gomu Gomu no Mi, Ope Ope no Mi and Mera Mera no Mi fruits. Each fruit informs the color and design direction of its corresponding Air Max Plus.
Nike also developed completely retooled uppers specifically for the collaboration, giving each shoe a construction created exclusively for the collection. The project moves beyond applying One Piece graphics to an existing sneaker and instead adapts the Air Max Plus itself around references from the series.
Each footwear design comes with corresponding Air Max Plus jerseys and caps informed by pieces from the Nike archive. These items extend the visual references of the sneakers across the wider collection while connecting the collaboration to Nike’s own sportswear history.
The apparel range also includes a series of T-shirts inspired by One Piece imagery. One design features the Jolly Roger drawn as “a mark of a promise” by the series’ protagonist, Monkey D. Luffy. Other T-shirts use manga illustrations interpreted through the visual style of classic Nike advertisements, bringing familiar One Piece imagery into a format connected directly to the sportswear company’s archive.
Nike and One Piece also created a vest inspired by another defining element of the Devil Fruits. Within the manga, those who consume the fruits become “hated by the sea” and lose their ability to swim.
One Piece has maintained a strong connection with global sports culture, with athletes referencing the series through performances and competition moments. The Nike collaboration builds on that relationship by bringing recognizable elements from the manga into footwear and sportswear.
The Nike x One Piece collection launches globally on September 25, bringing together three Air Max Plus designs, jerseys, T-shirts, caps and the Devil Fruit-inspired vest.
