Design
systems
at scale.
Twenty years setting creative direction for performance product — from early-stage material research through global launch. Each platform a designed system — grounded in craft, backed by patents, and built to outlast the season.
Innovation
Platforms
Nike (M) Research
US & EU
Nike
Forward
"The biggest Nike apparel innovation since Dri-FIT." — WWD, 2022
Five years in development, Nike Forward rewrote the rules of fleece construction. By hacking industrial punch-needle machines to turn fiber directly into textile — bypassing traditional knit and woven processes — the platform achieved a 75% reduction in carbon footprint compared to conventional knit fleece. Built on 70% recycled content and designed from the start for circularity, Nike Forward became the most significant sustainability-led material innovation in Nike's apparel history. As VP of Innovation Apparel Design, I led the team behind the platform — setting the vision, sponsoring the multi-year material development, and partnering with manufacturing and business leaders to bring it from concept to global launch.
Nike
(M)
Nike's first maternity platform — designed and tested by mothers, for mothers and so much more.
Three years in development, Nike (M) was built on 150,000+ body scans comparing pregnant and non-pregnant women — the most comprehensive body-mapping study Nike had ever conducted for a single collection. The team tested 70 materials before narrowing to nine, including recycled polyester composites ranging from 78% to 88% recycled content. The result: a four-piece system — bra, tank, tight, and pullover — engineered to adapt to a changing body across all stages of pregnancy and postpartum. The Nike (M) Swoosh Bra became the first Nike bra designed for both sport and nursing. Developed in collaboration with 30 pregnant and postpartum athletes, Nike (M) expanded from a North American capsule launch into a global platform with the Nike (M)ove Like a Mother program. As Senior Director, Innovation Apparel Design, I led the team that built this platform — directing the research strategy, championing inclusive design at scale, and partnering with athlete advocates and Brand leadership to take Nike (M) from North American capsule to global program.
Nike
Pro
Creative direction for a named performance franchise — seasonal material palettes, construction systems, and visual identity, all grounded in sport science research.
As Design Director, I set the creative direction for Nike Pro across multiple seasons — defining material palettes, construction approaches, and the visual identity of a named performance line spanning Hypercool, Hyperwarm, and Pro Combat. Every design decision was grounded in direct partnership with the Nike Sport Research Lab: thermal imaging, body scanning, sweat mapping, and impact analysis translated into zoned construction — differentiated knit densities for warmth, mesh ventilation for cooling, and Dri-FIT Max positioning calibrated by sport and position. The NFL Points of Impact program mapped collision data by position to inform padding architecture. This was design embedded in the research lab — prototypes tested in environmental chambers, validated on thermal manikins, and iterated until the science said they were right.
Current Work
Nike
After Dark Tour
A first-of-its-kind race medal reimagined as wearable jewelry — where sport meets adornment.
Engineered at a factory in Bassano del Grappa, Italy, the After Dark Tour pendant translates elevation data from each race course into the sculpted surface of the piece — a finisher's medal designed to be worn long after race day. Sponsored as Senior Design Director, the platform is in development as a multi-year program with city-specific carabiners and a commercial accessories range, refreshed for the 2026 tour.
Additional Platforms
Protection: Period
Before Nike
Designing for Ralph Lauren's luxury sportswear collection — technical outerwear, performance golf, and functional fabrics positioned within a world-building brand narrative. An early immersion in the intersection of performance design and luxury identity: engineered garments that had to perform on the mountain and resonate in the showroom.
Building
platforms
that last.
These platforms represent a thread running through 20+ years of innovation work: the conviction that lasting performance design begins in material and craft — and endures because it's built as a system, named and patented, that outlives any single season. The brief changes. The methodology doesn't.
The next chapter is about bringing that methodology to new territory — where material innovation meets craft, where performance meets culture, and where design leadership can shape not just product but the creative vision of an entire line. The most interesting problems are the ones that haven't been framed yet.
carmen@zolman.net