29 November 2025 |
Running revolutionaries Nike have always championed the strength and stamina of female athletes, whoever and wherever they may be. For over 50 years, the brand has been at the forefront of creating community and fostering change for women in sport. And in honour of that legacy, this year the sports brand behemoth revitalised their After Dark Tour – running events designed to bring women runners together and test their limits in cities across the globe. The world-wide race series culminated in London on Sunday with 5000 eager, track-ready women.
Fashion and performance took their marks the day before with Rebel By Design, a pre-race showcase where Nike invited six creative minds from five European cities – London, Milan, Paris, Barcelona, and Berlin – to create Rebel Packs: customised kits of the brand’s shoes and apparel designed to explore what rebellion looks like while running through their respective hometowns.
For her pack, Berlin-based fashion stylist and consultant Theresa Gross asked herself, how do I style everyone without being physically present? She set herself the task of creating a pack for runners for whom the concepts of sport and style are intertwined. Taking a satirical approach to the city – it’s known for its self-aware fascination – she explored layering several pieces, fixing and sewing those into place, while adding custom buttons celebrating sports culture. In effect you’re actually wearing three carefully layered pieces as opposed to one, stitched together to create deliberate depth and texture.
Hot off the blocks on Sunday were dedicated runners Tsellot Melesse, Neslihan Degerli and Hong Anh Pham. Representing Berlin’s rebellious identity by sporting Gross’s Rebel Packs, they sprinted through the Nike-organised race at the international exhibition centre alongside runners from across Europe, each wearing their own city’s packs in a race dedicated to personal style, personal bests and the simple joy of running.
Images courtesy of NIKE
