We started by asking a question: what is preventing women from participating in sports and why is their participation declining?

To answer these questions, we conducted a year long field research study, meeting athletes in their homes, reading their diaries, and observing their environments across the US.

The research revealed three critical barriers: menstrual cycles, the challenging transition from high school to college, and persistent societal constructs. Among these, menstrual cycles emerged as a high pain point with monthly re occurrence and also an area covered by taboo and therefore lacking solutions. We identified this as Adidas' first opportunity for change not just by creating innovative products, but by breaking the taboo barrier by talking about menstrual cycles in sport.

We began by developing leak proof menstrual shorts and it evolved into a deeper understanding of athlete needs. During testing, we discovered that sweat management was creating confusion; athletes couldn't distinguish between period leakage and sweat, pulling their attention away from performance. This insight forced us to go back to the drawing board and start again our development with new questions in front of us: How might we bring confidence to athletes whose needs have been historically overlooked? The solution became not just leak proof shorts but leak proof shorts that manage sweat and let athletes focus on the game by feeling confident and dry.

The solution marks a larger promise and a line in the sand for broader conversations where hormonal variability is not a weakness but rather a massive strength when used appropriately. Few know this and it is still a fringe area that only now elite athletes are starting to tap into.

Stay in Play is just the beginning of letting athletes do what they love: their sport.

Role: design research, garment design following consumers insight and movement data.