Adidas Women teamed up with creative agency Havas Middle East to launch ‘Beyond The Surface’: a campaign celebrating the power of water and its ability to accept every type of sportsperson and promoting the sportswear giant’s first ever full cover swimwear collection.
The campaign for adidas’ first ‘Full-Cover Swimwear Collection’ celebrates how water accepts everyone unconditionally and is underscored by adidas’ belief that sport belongs to all
The creative is fronted by Sudanese-British spoken word-poet and sport inclusivity activist Asma Elbadawi who was commissioned to pen poem to celebrate her relationship with the water and the confidence it can bring to all women.
Elbadawi features alongside Lebanese-born, Dubai-based adidas ambassador and amputee athlete Dareen Barbar.
The campaign is led by a hero spot and a set of print and social executions featuring adidas ambassadors and parts of the collection and also runs across the brand’s Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds with the #WatchUsMove and #adidasSwim hashtags.
The 18- piece collection, which comes in three colour ways, follows on from the launch of its inclusively sized Sh3ro range, designed to offer women of all shapes a wide range of technical apparel to support their swim. It is designed to support the needs of those who find the category offers limited choice when it comes to swimwear.
The collection is informed, through community engagement and insights from around the world, by those who expressed a need for full-coverage for cultural reasons, or those just looking for greater choice via a broader range of technical apparel to suit their needs in the water.
The pieces in the collection all feature press studs (inside the top at hip height and along the outside of the fabric on the legs) to connect the two and offer an adjustable fit, preventing unnecessary movement of material in and out of the water. It also features thumb holes in the sleeves for optimised fit. Plus, singlets with sleeves, and a swim hijab – which features a specially crafted adjustable inner cap to provide the perfect fit and to prevent it from slipping whilst swimming – complete the collection.
Each element of the collection was carefully crafted to ensure that additional fabric does not reduce a swimmer’s ability to move in the water. The range went through a detailed testing process with consumer groups across multiple regions to help find the perfect balance of fit, features, performance and coverage, ensuring maximum comfort for the swimmer.
Plus, as part of adidas’ ongoing commitment to more sustainable design, all are crafted with a chlorine-resistant fabric that features Econyl regenerated yarn.
Sybille Baumann, senior product manager adidas Swimwear, said: “At adidas we believe that nobody should be prevented from enjoying the benefits of being in and around the water. We are constantly looking at ways to diversify our product offering for all women and our Full-Cover Swimwear Collection is rooted in that mentality.”
“This is a project that is close to my heart and I am incredibly proud to support a campaign that will remove barriers for women across the world to enjoy swimming,” commented Asma Elbadawi.
Comment:
This is the latest wave of work and collection in adidas’ movement of change to ensure that all athlete and all body types have access to a wide range of high quality technical performance wear for the water.
It follows on from 2021 YouGov survey for adidas showed that just 12% of women are completely comfortable wearing a swimsuit at a public beach or pool. Body shame and lack of privacy are the two main reasons women do not feel comfortable in their swimsuits.
While 59% of women aged 18-to-42 in the United Arab Emirates agree or strongly agree that the “media creates an unattainable body image for female swimmers”.
While only 25% of women surveyed rate the availability of modest and size inclusive swimwear ranges as excellent.
The Beyond the Surface campaign, part of ‘Watch Us Move’ – adidas’ broader initiative to create more space for women in sport – celebrates the power of water and its ability to defy restrictions, bring renewal and accept everyone unconditionally.
It also follows in the footsteps of other campaigns taking a fresh approach to women’s swimwear such as Philippines-based brand Float’s ‘Real Girls‘, Nike’s UK work with the ‘Swim Dem Crew‘ and Nike’s own Victory Swimwear collection launch campaign.
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