As the tennis world gears up for the 2024 Australian Open, Nike unveils its latest Melbourne collection, set to capture the essence of the city’s vibrant beaches while delivering top-tier performance and style on the court. The new items come in vivid green, sophisticated mauve, and refreshing light yellow, while we’re yet to see which specific pieces the WTA players will choose to wear at the season’s first Grand Slam.
Inspired by the infectious energy of Melbourne’s coastal charm, the Nike Melbourne collection is a symphony of color-blocking mastery and tonal knit textures. The pieces boast a streamlined design that prioritizes comfort, performance, and effortlessly sleek athletic silhouettes. With an emphasis on captivating hues, engaging textures, and figure-flattering cuts, each item encapsulates a perfect synergy of style and purpose.
One of the spotlight pieces from this collection is the Nike Melbourne Slam Dress. Made from 89% polyester and 11% elastane, it champions comfort and innovation with Nike’s Dri-FIT technology for superior sweat-wicking during intense matches. Its textured exterior, strategic back cutout, and elastic back strap offer breathability, unrestricted movement, and a chic on-court presence.
Here you can see the stadium green/white version of the dress, as well as the variant in smokey mauve. The third color combo available is gym red/barely volt/white.
The collection also offers the Nike Melbourne Slam Tank, crafted from 80% polyester and 20% elastane. With its breathable Dri-FIT material and stretchy feel, the design ensures that players remain comfortable and focused throughout their matches. The racerback tank’s slightly textured material, along with the strategically placed cutout on the back, ensures superior ventilation and freedom of movement.
The tank comes in three vibrant color combinations: smokey mauve/platinum violet/white, stadium green/white, and soft yellow/black. It’s designed to complement the Nike Spring Advantage Mini Pleat Skirt, which is conveniently available in corresponding hues.
The Australian Open begins on January 14. As the tournament draws closer, we anticipate more updates on Nike’s latest apparel and shoes. Additionally, all eyes are on defending champion Aryna Sabalenka’s custom tennis dress. It will also be interesting to see what Nike has in store for Naomi Osaka.
What do you think about the vibrant colors and designs of the new Nike collection? Let us know in the comments.
MORE 2024 AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS FASHION:
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The green colour is great, perfect for the Australian Open. I do think the designs are a little tired though- pretty plain, and nothing we haven’t seen before.
I’m not sure if you have already mentioned this previously Marija, but I read recently that Nike no longer has a specific design team dedicated to tennis? Rather, they just use a generic design team that also design for other departments/sports. If so, this would explain the lack of fun, innovative designs that were prevalent in the peak Williams/Sharapova era.
I was hoping Nike would have something nice for AO but this is pretty disappointing. The green color is nice but the design is not good. Also the gap in the back is really annoying when wearing it on the court. looks a bit too skimpy for tennis and makes me self conscious. Too bad both Adidas and Nike designs aren’t that great for AO. Maybe it will look better on the players. Yonex was a disappointment too. Let’s hope Original Penguin, Fila, Ellesse has some better designs. At least the Fila designs are interesting and unique, even if some are a bit ridiculous , where I can’t wear it for a match but I can wear it when playing casually with friends.
Karo, Nike’s lack of dedicated tennis fashion team is actually a great article topic that I could cover. Thanks for the tip. Everything in life has its ups and downs and what is certain is that now we are in the down period of tennis fashion. There are essentially no superstars that could compare to Maria or Serena, who could pull off extraordinary apparel. Nike tried it with Naomi, but that attempt has only been semi successful. This is definitely a good period for a smaller brand to step in and try to establish dominance. As I said in the beginning, life is all about cycles, so I am hopeful that tennis fashion will return to its glory days. Additionally, the pandemic’s enduring economic impact has also affected this industry.
Having said all this, I can comment that I like this new Melbourne collection. While it does lack the striking ‘wow’ factor, the colors and designs are undeniably appealing.
Jess Z, yesterday I sent an email to Fila, so I hope that in the coming days I will post information about their new collection.
I would love to learn more information about Nike’s tennis design teams, and whether in fact have one. I’m not sure of the accuracy of my information Marija, as my source was Instagram.
However, it does seem to make sense, particularly as Nike has steered towards generic designs.
I recall watching videos with Nike’s head of tennis, explaining how they would sit down with Maria Sharapova and work on the design process months and months in advance. These types of videos, and most importantly creative collaborations, are long gone (https://youtu.be/Ud6-wX7ZuwM?si=vf1rgucJ9K3boMHp )
As you mentioned, they are definitely lacking someone to carry the designs and also would have been financially impacted by the covid.
I’ll keep an eye out for your post!
I like this style of colorblocking. Don’t love the colors but they’re okay.
Karo, I’ve written a more general article about the shift that has been happening in the world of tennis fashion. https://womenstennisblog.com/2024/01/10/tennis-fashion-evolution/ As for Nike, I haven’t found that they don’t have a specific tennis design team any longer, however, they have shifted away from tennis marketing, as now a generic marketing team is doing tennis promotions. I think the reason is that they don’t have a leading figure to go all-in on. As I said, they tried with Naomi, but it worked out only partially. And then she got pregnant. Simona Halep got that doping ban and she never had the allure to be a fashion icon. Emma Raducanu could have filled the void, but her results never matched her potential after that groundbreaking US Open title.