If you've been wondering whether tailoring is a profession at risk from the clutches of AI, just take a look at Nike's new world cup kits. The apparel has been raising eyebrows online, thanks to some unwelcome, er, bulges,
Don't worry, it's only the shoulders. Fans have noticed that the new kit designs feature a weird shoulder seam that's prone to protruding. Which, for my money, makes the players look rather a lot like the villain from Thunderbirds.
Nike made quite the song and dance about the technology of the kits when launching the designs earlier this year. "Merging pinnacle cooling innovation with time-honored tradition and bold visions for the future," the kids allegedly set "a new standard for national team kit design". Which is certainly a lot of responsibility for the kits to shoulder.
In a statement to The Guardian back in March, Nike acknowledged the design issue, saying “the overall aesthetic is not where it needs to be”. But rather than going back to the drawing board, the brand is sending players to the ironing board. Players and federations have allegedly been advised on how to wash and steam the kits to reduce the shoulder bulges.
The error seems uncharacteristic for Nike, and the involvement of AI makes things murkier. As per the Guardian, the computational process of developing the cooling technology "was driven by performance data and incorporated elements of AI to work alongside the company’s designers as they crafted the kits."
Do these Nike shirts *still* have that shoulder seam issue? FfsJune 13, 2026
Nah these Nike jerseys are criminal. Why do the shoulders look like that?????June 13, 2026
The shoulders on those Nike shirts are fucking horrendous. Might be the biggest fuck up in a design in the history of football shirtsJune 13, 2026
While it's unclear how much impact AI had on the final design itself, it's notable that Nike's "computational design and a highly specialised, stitch-specific knitting process" has resulted in such a fundamental design error.
