The Nike Milano Jacket Is More Than Just a Jacket

Intervista a Martin Lotti, Chief Product Officer, e a Danielle Kayembe, Apparel Product Innovation su come sta cambiando la tecnologia Air e sulla giacca del Team USA

8 months ago

Anna Frattini

From Dropcity in Milan, Nike turned Unlimited Air into an immersive laboratory centered on a single material: air. Not a nostalgic tribute to fifty years of Nike Air, but the opening of a new chapter in which that same technology—born in footwear—enters technical apparel with a radically different role.

The Therma-FIT Air Milano Jacket, worn by Team USA athletes for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, marks the turning point. The shift was not a simple aesthetic translation. “In the end, we’re trying to solve a problem. That’s how every project at Nike begins,” explained Martin Lotti, Chief Design Officer at Nike. The goal was not to reference Air’s footwear iconography, but to understand how that ingredient could respond to a different need: staying warm, then cooling down, without interrupting movement.

“What connects them is the ingredient of air,” Lotti continues. If in a shoe Air is a pressurized unit designed for cushioning, in the Milano Jacket it becomes “regular” air, captured inside flexible chambers, ready to be modulated. “It’s all about creating the best solution through air for athletes.”

The real shift in perspective came from accepting that insulation could not remain static. Danielle Kayembe, Apparel Product Innovation Expert, explains how the first prototypes were simply designed to retain heat. Then came the insight: “What’s unique is that it’s dynamic.” Data from the Nike Sport Research Lab clearly showed that during cold-weather training, thermal needs change significantly within minutes. What was needed wasn’t a jacket that did just one thing, but “a jacket that does many things.”

This led to the creation of A.I.R.: Adapt, Inflate, Regulate. Inside a cold chamber set up within Unlimited Air, the transformation was immediate: from lightweight windbreaker to mid-weight puffer in seconds, by inflating or deflating the air within the baffles. The volume shifts, the silhouette expands or compresses, and the insulation adapts to each phase of activity.

For Lotti, this transformation represents the purest expression of Nike’s design principle: “It’s not ‘what do I design today?’ but ‘what athlete problem am I solving today?’” This is where the motto form follows function takes on concrete meaning. “The Milano Jacket is entirely form following function. How do you keep someone warm? And how does it adapt with you?” The garment changes shape because it needs to.

But Nike doesn’t stop at function. “Nike is at its best when it connects performance, style, and soul,” says Lotti, referring to the trifecta of sport, youth, and street culture that allows the brand to transcend the playing field. The Milano Jacket, worn by Team USA athletes during winter medal ceremonies, embodies this tension: pure engineering on the outside, symbolic details on the inside—from Colorado mountain-inspired graphics to an eagle whose feathers form a victory sign.

Inclusivity was also an integral part of the process. Kayembe emphasizes that innovation had to be “inclusive from the beginning,” not an afterthought. Magnetic zippers, redesigned pull tabs, collar adjustments, and features tailored for athletes seated in wheelchairs were developed in direct dialogue with Olympic and Paralympic athletes. The experience of air had to be the same for everyone.

Ultimately, what makes the Therma-FIT Air Milano Jacket relevant is not just the technology, but its intuitiveness. “The best innovation is when things are simple, when they’re intuitive,” Kayembe concludes. Wear it, inflate it, adjust it: the gesture is elementary, the research behind it is complex.

With Unlimited Air, Nike moves Air from the foot to the body, transforming outerwear into a responsive architecture. Air remains invisible, yet it becomes form, volume, movement—and above all, choice.