Nike

The Forbidden City in Beijing and Solveig Rawas with black patent-leather Nike Dunk Supreme 08, photographed by Olivier Zahm

text OLIVIER ZAHM

NIKE, Beijing 080808

Nike invited a group of fashion journalists, including myself, to Beijing to see the Chinese Olympic athletes on parade inside the palace in the Forbidden City. Nike sponsors the Chinese team, fully equips them, and dressed them all in red for this night of high ideological contrasts. The parade took place at sunset; the small palace courtyard was lit up in Maoist red. Folk dancers, martial arts performers, and the sounds of traditional music accompanied the red-clad athletes who streamed in procession toward us. The marching contestants were at the pinnacle of their being, their bodies honed for a specific event, each a product of supreme human effort, leaving one breathless but partly confused. China’s future seemed to be laid before…