Danielle McCoy and Jordan Jackson, a husband-and-wife team who together run the Portland-based Amen, Amen. Studio and co-teach a popular design course at Willamette University’s Pacific Northwest College of Art, created apparel for the Nigerian Olympics team at this year’s Paris Olympics. The outfits were unveiled as the team crossed the Seine on a rainy evening at the Opening Ceremonies.
The graphic design and visual studies faculty help their students bring their ideas to life using the same time-tested design method they used to produce uniforms for the Nigerian Olympic team.
“We think our approach prepares students for real-world experiences with clients and projects, whether you're working freelance, in the context of an agency, or at an apparel company,” McCoy says.
The designs combine traditional Nigerian garments with an athletic twist. Jackson and McCoy, who both have traced their lineage back to Nigeria, aimed to use the designs to celebrate the diverse communities, ethnicities, and fashion of the Nigerian people. They collaborated closely with local manufacturers and artisans in Nigeria to assemble the finished looks.
“We were able to produce garments for the opening ceremony, kind of do some modern takes with different material mixes and traditional dye techniques on the outfits,” Jackson says. “It was a really fast and furious project.”
Due to tight deadlines and the complexities of global manufacturing, McCoy and Jackson had the unique experience of seeing their completed designs for the first time on social media.
“We haven't touched the pieces ourselves. So we were waiting with bated breath,” Jackson says. “The athletes go to social media and do unboxing videos, taking everything out of the bags and putting it on, and they're very proud to show what they have.”
The duo plan to bring the lessons from their Olympics experience back to their PNCA students, helping them find their path to work in a variety of design fields on a local — or even global — scale.
“Portland is a great city where you have some really amazing agencies just up the street,” McCoy says. “We hope to give our students a more robust understanding of all the things that they can do in the realm of graphic design and how design principles apply across the board — no matter what design discipline you end up in.”
The world will next see outfits designed by the PNCA faculty at the Olympics Closing Ceremony on Aug. 11, 2024.
