A swoosh for the Gen Next

Just when we stopped looking, Nike changed.

It is no longer just about sports shoes. It is no longer just about competitive sports. It is no longer just about rough and rugged. Yet at the same time, it still is all of this — and then some more.

"Nike is about sports and lifestyle," says Colo Ventosa, marketing manager for Nike, and adds that today’s younger generation uses Nike apparel for all sorts of stuff. "They wear them to parties, to jam, to hang out and for just about everything else. Sure there’s sports, but that’s for school.

Nike apparel is what they use when they are out of school," says Colo. And because Nike knows that kids love to have a good time — and it knows just how to give them that — it held a party on June 8 with its regulars (mostly young people aged 15 to 25). Nike without Borders — a party of style is what it was called.

"What we did was send text messages to 80 of our loyal customers and invite them to make it happen here," says Colo.

And happen it did.

The party started at 5 p.m. with Nike setting up camps. And no, they were not sports camps, rather they were jamming camps.

The venue: Play Underground at Rockwell Powerplant.

Four tents that housed some of the best and hottest band members in the land were set up complete with chairs, so people were able to get a chance to ask questions, pick up a few pointers and hopefully at the end of the session, do just what their music idols do. The choices were many. One could learn string science from 8 of Cheese and Francis of Dawn. Or they if they preferred, they could Mix Urban Vibe Chemistry with DJ Decipher and DJ Caliph on the turntables. And then there was Urban Style giving lessons on the elements of dance, with Armstrong leading the way. If drumming to the beat was what they wanted, Mark of Rivermaya (drums) and Paul of Spy and Rio of Third World Project were there, too, to lend their expertise. Of course, it would not be complete without the dancing prowess of House 101 with Dance DJ Stage with DJ Cyril taking the lead. The sounds of the afternoon reverberated around the whole 3rd floor basement parking lot of the mall. But no one seemed to mind the sounds, and all the tents were full of people expecting to pick up a pointer or two on how to best express themselves.

It was fun watching how each mentor, — whether he’s a band member, DJ, guitar player or dancer — took his teaching job seriously. They made sure that their craft was understood and new pointers learned by their eager students.

These creative energies and curiosity highlighted the Nike spirit, one that Colo links back to the brand. "One of the things about Nike is that it’s sports attire for a new lifestyle. The young people buy them and wear them," says Colo.

In fact, Colo says, most of the members of the bands and the other groups who took part in the Nike party are regular Nike wearers. "And no, we did not force them to wear Nike apparel," she adds.

The jamming, talking, teaching, dancing, spinning took all of two hours, after which everyone was famished and given a much needed break. But the party was far from over and in fact, everyone hung around for the party’s best part to start.

Yes, the party. Nike beyond Borders fashion show that any Nike diehard fan would not have missed for whatever. Each clothing item was a sight to behold, whether it was for an athlete or not.

It was about Dri-fit, a must-have for anyone who builds up a sweat. Dri-fit is designed to move moisture away from the skin, keeping its wearer dry and comfortable all throughout that sweaty activity. Matter of fact, most competitive athletes who use Nike go for Dri-fit.

There are five new styles for both men and women sure to catch anyone’s eyes. There is varsity maize, chlorophyll, Carolina blue, lemon and hyacinth. These tees are high performance and innovation packaged in a burst of color.

Of course, it helped that some of the best looking models around donned the Nike tees. Among them were Joey Mead, Robby Mananquil, Angel Jacob and Tim Yap.

The show was hosted by Chinggay Andrada with MYX VJs Michi and Franco.

I’m no fashion show watcher, but this one is like none that I have seen so far. I watched as Gangsta L. Smith rapped live and break dancers did gravity-defying stunts and headstands. (It got me thinking that perhaps these stunts should be included in the Olympics, in fact.) Sandwich and their rock and roll were a sight to behold and a sound to take heed of. The Nike models continued to display their ode to rocker chic. Then, the finale brought the house down as Sandwich was joined by hip-hop and dance music and rapellers descended from above.

And just when I thought I could call it a day, there was more. Rivermaya took center stage and then it was really party time. Rivermaya was followed by Drum and Bass maestro DJ Noel who spun, DJs Decypher and Arbie did scratch and MC Armstrong applied the final touches.

Indeed, all that energy and a Play Underground full of young people in full-blast party mode. The energy generated that night was enough to last three tennis games, two soccer matches, the NBA finals, three rounds of golf and so much more. You couldn’t get more Nike, could you? Swoosh!