A few minutes after crucifying the Blues with 12 points in two minutes, including a legendary 3-pointer, Stephen Curry was already wearing a sweatshirt with the words “Nuit Nuit”, a literal translation of his celebration “Night Night” that appeared two years ago. Behind this sweatshirt, there was not Under Armour or the American Federation, but a Filipino designer named Mike Fogg.
“Last June, I had the incredible opportunity to create some custom apparel designs for Stephen Curry for this year’s Paris Olympics, a dream come true. ‘Nuit Nuit’ was born. In English, it’s Night Night. In French, it’s Nuit Nuit. In every language, it means ‘game over’.” did he post on social networks.
Stephen Curry waited for the right moment
For CllctMike Fogg looked back on the beginnings of this collaboration. “Steph and I met about three years ago through mutual friends and business partners. At the time, I was forging my own path as an art director, working on a side project,” he explains. “By some stroke of luck, they discovered my work, reached out to me, and we started collaborating. So over the last few years, I’ve done a few one-off, custom projects for Steph and his companies. But nothing like this, this was a completely personal side project for him.”
So this “Night Night” sweatshirt was a secret to the general public, but Curry already had the sweatshirts in his suitcases. “We started in mid-June, just a month before the Olympics began, and quickly went from inception to finalizing the designs for production. Once the pieces were shipped to the hotel in Paris, we didn’t know when or if he would wear them. Steph’s timing was perfect, which makes it all the more iconic. It really shows how calculated he is.”
No marketing planned
Fogg himself had not been informed that the sweatshirt would be worn that night, and he found out about it through social media. “I’m still in shock. As a designer, you always dream of seeing your work showcased on a global scale, but this was on another level. Everything came together perfectly: the game, Steph’s legacy, the cultural importance of Paris, and of course, his signature “Night Night” moment, or should I say “Nuit Nuit”. I was having dinner with my wife when the images started flooding social media. I had trouble sleeping that night. I was in complete awe of how this video went viral.”
Mentioned millions of times, Fogg assures that this sweatshirt remains the property of Stephen Curry, and that he has no plans to sell it. And this even if he already knows that smart people will copy his work and market an equivalent sweatshirt.
“It was really a personal, personalized and creative project, just for Steph. It was something that was unique to him, meant for this special moment. We wanted to create something that he would want to wear and be proud to wear, with a bit of attitude behind it, of course. We had no idea it would go viral like it did. I received many requests, but I always said that it was a one-off creation for the gold medalist himself. I expect to see knockoffs popping up everywhere, that’s just the way it is…”
