All about: the all new, all good Nike Pro Bra collection

A couple of days ago now I was lucky enough to be invited to the official New Zealand launch of the Nike Pro Bra collection, and couldn’t agree with its creators more when they say, “the sports bra is at the heart of every female athlete’s workout. It’s often the first thing she puts on and is arguably the most important.”

Being a bustier woman and also a lover of daily exercise, the search for a great sports bra often feels like diving into a haystack on a regular basis to look aimlessly for the proverbial needle. Often a nightmare up there with bikini and general lingerie shopping, I have often opted for the best of a bad bunch and been done with it. The eventual purchase has often resembled some kind of apparatus for the attachment of a parachute, and is usually a bloody nightmare to put on. Never ideal but hey, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

It’s true that a sports bra that doesn’t fit right is motivation not to work out for many, and Julie Igarashi, Vice President of Global Design for Nike Women’s Training put it very well when she said: “We have a saying here, ‘No bra, no workout, no run’. The majority of women are wearing the wrong-sized bra. This is something we needed to fix.”  This inspired Nike to devote more than two years of research, testing, design and development to creating a new sports bra solution, and resulted in a collection of several very different but equally awesome products.

The centrepiece of the collection is the Nike Pro Rival Bra, which delivers the highest level of support and is offered in 25 sizes to help the female athlete find the right fit. I am yet to try it myself but those that have reportedly love it, including my friend Claire Robbie - a yogi and generally amazing super fit new mum - who has given it two thumbs up from the get go, even whilst breastfeeding. The collection also features the new Nike Pro Fierce Bra, as well as the updated Nike Pro Classic.

The Nike Pro Rival Bra features a fabric constructed from fine nylon yarns for a soft-hand feel, which is a staple of lingerie construction. Incredibly soft to the touch, it is the only part-encapsulation style bra in the collection, with separate fully molded cups to help deliver shaping and support where the female athlete needs it most. The contoured foam inserts in the cups and racerback design provide additional support. It is available in an amazing 25 sizes, ranging from 30B to 38E. It looks seriously great too - with zero annoying catches and a matte finish.

The lightweight Nike Pro Fierce Bra offers medium-to-high support and has Dri-FIT material in the bra’s cups to help provide “one-way moisture transport” and its chest band is brushed for an ultra-soft feel, while also featuring the appropriate amount of stretch and recovery. The Nike Pro Classic Bra features a new racerback design for increased support and an updated chest band, which is brushed for a soft feel. The Nike Pro Classic Bra is positioned as a medium support bra and is offered in a padded version for modest coverage. This is the bra I wore for the launch - which involved a Tabata-style workout, hip hop dance (thank god there wasn’t a mirror!) and Power Vinyasa yoga - and was so comfy to wear that I actually kept it on for hours afterwards. Normally I wrench the damn things off post-workout, but this baby I wore all afternoon with ease, and one of the fashion editors who was at the launch as well confided to me yesterday that she did exactly the same - and was in a state of pure bliss.

So anyway… if you exercise on a regular basis (you should!) then these babies are the best I’ve tried. Get yours now.