A 2023 CFDA Fashion Fund finalist beloved of style editors and It girls like Bella Hadid and Kendall Jenner, Sami Miro has been a bit of an IYKYK secret amongst fashion nerds. Now, her work is likely to captivate sports fans worldwide.
The designer, whose eponymous brand sources and repurposes deadstock and vintage fabrics, was approached by Nike to create bespoke pieces in the athletic brand’s first-ever collaboration of this kind. Miro was tasked with making jackets for the five gymnasts who qualified for the 2024 games at the trials in Minneapolis in June.
In a photo of an early prototype Miro shared on Instagram, her handwriting is seen in the top right corner: “Removable Wings.” In the photo, a model in a hoodie wears puffy white material fashioned like a shawl over her shoulders, arched like open wings. Curved lines are drawn coming out from the top, middle, and bottom of the “wings,” extended to complete the shape. Next to them, Miro wrote, “Open seams with wire.”
The idea for the jacket’s design was inspired by Nike, Miro tells me over Zoom a couple days ahead of the gymnastics trials. Not by the brand, she clarifies, but by its namesake. “Nike is the Greek goddess of victory,” she says. “So I wanted to really research her and understand her, and lean into the strengths of the gymnasts, and create something that symbolizes all of their greatness.”
Sami Miro overlooking her designs for the gymnasts’ jackets
In her research, she came across more than a handful of incredible images, but what stood out to her the most was a painting of Nike with her toga flowing in the wind. “It was just so grand and so special. What it meant to me is that with the help of her clothing, she became even more powerful than she already was.”
Miro wanted to create a garment with that kind of energy for the gymnasts of Team USA. “They are already so beyond incredible! Their work ethic and their strength and their mental capabilities! Everything that they can do is out of this world,” she says. The clothing, she adds, had to help symbolize their greatness.
Miro alongside the final design, which the five gymnasts received after they made the Olympic team last month
The open seams on the jacket are a classic Miro detail: “That seam is one of my biggest design signatures—I do it across T-shirts, dresses, and bottoms.” But they were also a way to mimic the toga flowing in the wind in her reference image of Nike.
Miro tells me she felt particularly suited to this assignment because she was a competitive gymnast for 10 years. “I know what gymnasts want to wear, what they should be wearing, how they want to look, and how they want to feel at a competition,” she says. She also notes that the women’s Olympic gymnast team—which includes Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, and Hezly Rivera—is known not just for split jumps and back handsprings, but also the members’ genuine sense of personal style.
“I love that there’s interest in these athletes beyond their sport. You are able to see all of their range. They are more than just gymnasts,” she says. “It’s nice to see what types of things they gravitate to and what they like, especially in fashion. I mean, we’re seeing them in leotards all the time, but what do they like to wear outside of the competition? It’s really fun to see their multiple sides.”
Jordan Chiles, moments after learning she qualified for the Olympic team after the trials in June
Jordan Chiles agrees that fashion plays a big part in what she does. She points out that some of the world’s best athletes right now have incredible style. “Take for example Serena Williams—an icon and a legend. She pushed the limits of what people thought was acceptable to wear for a tennis match. With track and field we have Sha’Carri [Richardson] making fashion statements right now, and do not get me started on A’ja and all the WNBA players,” Chiles explains. “Fashion and sports are perfect together. NBA and NFL walk-ins have been epic over the years, and we want in on it.” When she opened up the box with Miro’s jacket, she could barely contain her excitement. “When I tell you I screamed.”
Tonight, the Olympics officially open in Paris. And while no one can be sure how many medals the women’s gymnastics team will manage to win this year, Miro believes the jacket represent how far they’ve already come. “The jackets are essentially a trophy—it’s what they wore to walk out of the trials after making it.”
The goddess Nike wore a toga and team USA wears a custom Sami Miro jacket—but they’re both just as likely to chase victory.
Tara Gonzalez is the Senior Fashion Editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Previously, she was the style writer at InStyle, founding commerce editor at Glamour, and fashion editor at Coveteur.
