Nike Stops Production of Tattoo Tights. What Happened?

NIKE halted production on a line of sportswear on Wednesday after an outcry that the designs were culturally insensitive.

The women's running tights, bodysuit, and sports bra in the Nike Pro Tattoo Tech line were decorated with a pattern based on Samoan tattoos called pe'a, which are traditionally reserved for men.

As of Thursday morning, the apparel was still pictured on the Nike website but listed as unavailable

the company issued a written statement Wednesday afternoon saying, "The Nike tattoo tech collection was inspired by tattoo graphics. We apologize to anyone who views this design as insensitive to any specific culture. No offense was intended."

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"Before you launch into something like this, there's generally a consultation with those…who have ownership of this pattern," New Zealand Labour MP Su'a William Sio told TVNZ. "I don't think Nike has taken the time to do that."

"To the outside world it's just a design," a commenter, Freddie Ika, wrote on a Change.org petition that was launched on August 2 to protest the sale of the items. "But to my Polynesian people, it's sacred.

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Another comment read, "I am 100% Samoan and I find Nike's blatant disrespect and profit over my culture's way of life shameless and irreverent. The tatau is thousands of years old with a tradition of honor and you have reduced it to $80 Spanx. Remove at once!"

The Pe'a is the popular name of the traditional male tattoo of Samoa, which was originally called the malofie, a term used in the Samoan language chiefly vocabulary and 'respect' register

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The Polynesian tradition of applying tattoos is thought to go back at least 2,000 years. The craft is passed from father to son, and artists still use sharpened boar's teeth and pieces of turtle shell fastened to a wooden handle to prick the design into the skin.

The pe'a covers the body from waist to the rectum and then to knees. The word tattoo in the English language is believed to have originated from the Polynesian word tatau.

The process is extremely painful and can take days — even months — to complete. It's a rite of passage that symbolizes courage and a commitment to traditional ways. The word tattoo is believed to be derived from the Samoan "tatau."

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