In the spirit of Black History Month, Nike has released a new sportswear collection to honor its group of phenomenal athletes. Nike’s fourth annual BHM collection contains 23 products including, footwear, equipment and sportswear.  The most prominent colors in the collection are purple, burgundy, black, gray and gold.  The full collection was available at the start of February.

This collection was created under the general theme of Sport Royalty, which was intending to pay tribute to the “kings” and “queens” of sports.  For example, LeBron James is considered one of Nike’s “kings”.

In addition to honoring BHM with a dedicated collection, Nike also giving 100 percent of net proceeds acquired from the sales of this collection to the new Nike Ever Higher Fund.

Concerning the collection itself, there are varying views.

“I don’t care for any of the pieces really because I’m not into athletic clothing,” said sophomore Kallie Quist.

On the  other hand, some really enjoy the collection.

“I like the patterns and color mixtures of the BHM shoes,” said sophomore Gavin Keogh.

The shoes featured mostly black, purple and gold.  In addition, a portion of the shoes have a design that could be considered tribal to hit on the cultural aspect of black history month.

The shoes are not just for fashion though, the also serve a purpose for the average basketball player.

“They give a player more cushion and a solid frame, allowing them to explode out of their stance,” said Keogh.

“They’ll have better traction and special stiff bottoms for jumping,” added junior Calvin Hanson.

Although the shoes are not a huge hit among children because of the price, high school students are more likely to buy the shoes because of Nike’s high quality of product and catching designs.

The name has sparked a small controversy in itself as some people view the name only has a way to reel people in to buy Nike’s product.

“I think Nike made BHM shoes to advertise all races and show that Nike is an earthly company that cares about everyone and does not discriminate,” said Hanson.

“I feel like it could possibly just be a marketing campaign, but it’s for a good cause. Nike gets money and money goes to charity all in the name of Black History Month, so it’s not necessarily a bad marketing campaign, just a way to sell more products,” added Quist.

Never the less, Nike’s new collection is bound to be a hit.