SERENA WILLIAMS DESIGN CREW 2022

AT NIKE, WE BELIEVE DIVERSITY DRIVES INNOVATION.

In June 2021, we welcomed the second class of Serena Williams Design Crew – 11 Chicago/Midwest-based Apprentices – to Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, where they will spend six months working with NIKE, Inc.’s product design teams to produce a Serena-inspired footwear, apparel and accessories capsule collection. We are now looking for the next Serena Williams Design Crew (SWDC) to design innovative Nike products that celebrate Serena's legacy under the direction of Nike Design leadership. This six-month apprenticeship is open to all qualified applicants from the Los Angeles area. We’re excited to connect with a broad range of applicants through Los Angeles-based design institutions, community colleges and trade schools that cater to a diverse design demographic. We are looking for apprentices to fill the following roles: Footwear Design, Apparel Design, Materials Design, Accessories Design, Color Design, Graphics Design, Brand Design and 3D Design.

INSPIRED BY SERENA'S RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF GREATNESS

Starting in March 2022, we will challenge a crew to create a product line that pays homage to Serena's legacy and leverages a robust and specially curated experience with workshops, speakers and elevated moments along the way.

“It was so important to me to have diversity. I wanted to make sure that we had that representation to believe in my vision.”

- Serena Williams

APPLY FOR SWDC 2022

DEFY THE ODDS WITH SERENA WILLIAMS

You'll work with cross-functional teams to build genderless product lines from concept to creation and produce brand, 3D, footwear, apparel and accessory designs that advance Nike's design image and product performance and that appeal to our consumers.

DESIGN AT NIKE

AT THE HEART OF NIKE, YOU’LL FIND OUR PEOPLE. FROM COLOR DESIGNERS IN BEAVERTON, TO RETAIL PLANNERS IN SHANGHAI AND RETAIL ATHLETES* IN THOUSANDS OF LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE, IT’S NEVER JUST ONE PERSON’S EFFORT TO REACH OUR GOALS — WE WIN AS A TEAM.

Nike brings together people from diverse backgrounds with a wide range of skill sets, mindsets and assets — and together, we make the impossible possible.

ARTISTS + INVENTORS + SPECIALISTS

The design teams include artists, inventors, specialists and other creatives all with different focuses, including color and material experts, apparel, footwear and graphic designers. Nike designers look to the future, audaciously pursuing materials, ideas and forms that further elevate the athlete experience, raise the bar for modern style and reduce environmental impact.

SERENA WILLIAMS DESIGN CREW DISCIPLINES

WE SEEK TO ATTRACT A BROAD RANGE OF TALENT FROM THE LOS ANGELES AREA. AS AN APPRENTICE IN THE SERENA WILLIAMS DESIGN CREW, YOU WILL FOCUS IN ONE OF EIGHT DISCIPLINES BELOW – FOR BOTH IN-LINE WORK AND THE SERENA-INSPIRED COLLECTION.

Teamwork will be a prominent feature of your time at Nike as you produce a market-ready collection alongside the other apprentices and our ultimate muse, Serena Williams.

HEAR THE VOICES OF THE CHICAGO Serena Williams DESIGN CREW

This year’s crew of 11 is driving collaborative teamwork as they design the next collection for Serena Williams. Get a sneak peek into their excitement around presenting to Serena and exploring the Pacific Northwest.

“Our goal was to bring all of Serena’s legacy to Nike. We wouldn’t want it to just be the chapters of her on the court, we wanted it to be all of her.”

- Jonathan Johnsongriffin, VP, Global Creative Director, Innovation/Design/Athletes/Purpose

APPLY FOR SWDC 2022

NIKE DESIGN ETHOS

VOICE OF THE ATHLETE / DESIGN THAT SPEAKS / DREAM WITH US / OPENING THE APERTURE / PLAYGROUND EARTH

Nike Design exists to solve problems for athletes*. Our design ethos is our shared standard of design excellence, our commitment to ourselves and those we serve, and our relentless pursuit to advance the progression of sport and unlock human potential.

SERENA WILLIAMS DESIGN CREW IN THE NEWS

CHECK OUT STORIES FROM THE FIRST NYC-BASED CREW

NIKE NEWS / VOGUE / FAST COMPANY

How Serena Williams Design Crew Drives the Future of Design at Nike

In 2019, Nike and Serena Williams partnered to create the Serena Williams Design Crew (SWDC), an apprenticeship program to promote diversity in design. It brought together 10 talented designers from New York City, each specializing in their own discipline, and tasked them with creating a Serena-inspired women’s performance and lifestyle collection spanning footwear, apparel and accessories — which they’re now ready to unveil…

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Serena Williams and Her Nike Design Crew Debut Their First Collection

Way back in 2019, Serena Williams and Nike teamed up for a first-of-its-kind partnership. Under Williams’s leadership, Nike would select 10 emerging designers from underrepresented backgrounds to work on a new, Serena Williams–inspired and –approved collection from Nike’s Beaverton, Oregon, headquarters…

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Serena Williams: ‘I want to see more people in design that look like me’

Tennis superstar Serena Williams has been a Nike-sponsored athlete since 2003. But as she developed her latest fashion collection with the activewear giant, she wasn’t content to tap the company’s existing slate of designers. “I have been at Nike for many years and I want to see more people in design that look like me,” she tells Fast Company. “I wanted to cast our net further, to areas where Nike generally wouldn’t go…”

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