SonicFox Levels Up Fashion: The Nonbinary Furry Champion at the Heart of Martine Rose x Nike’s Latest Campaign

What does it mean to be an athlete in 2025? For Martine Rose and Nike, the answer is as bold and boundary-pushing as their latest collaboration: gaming is the new sport, and its champions are as diverse and dynamic as the internet itself. At the center of this cultural remix stands SonicFox—famed fighting game prodigy, nonbinary icon, and yes, a proud furry—reframing what heroism, style, and self-expression can look like in the spotlight of global sportwear fashion .

SonicFox (they/them), known for their blue wolf fursuit and relentless competitive drive, has long been a trailblazer in the world of esports. Their presence in the Martine Rose x Nike Sport campaign isn’t just a nod to gamer culture—it’s a full-throated celebration of the multiplicity of queer identity. For SonicFox, gaming arenas have always been their playground, but now, they’re also a runway: “Skill over status. Individuality over conformity. Expression over everything,” as the campaign’s core message declares .

This isn’t the first time SonicFox has shattered expectations. As a Black, nonbinary person who’s openly queer and a furry, they’ve become a symbol of radical authenticity—winning championship titles in Mortal Kombat and other fighting games while never hiding their true self. Their signature blue wolf fursuit has become as iconic in gaming circles as a Super Bowl ring is in football, and now, it’s front and center in high-fashion photo shoots styled by Tamara Rothstein and captured by Frank Lebon .

The 2025 Martine Rose x Nike collection is pure nostalgia and future-forward energy, drawing inspiration from 1990s LAN parties and classic Nike aesthetics . Think: reworked football kits, hoodies, fleece pants, and a water-repellent ski parka that’s equal parts streetwear and gamer gear. The star of the collection? The Shox MR4 mule, a hybrid that stretches the iconic sneaker into a squared-off, runway-ready shape—worn by SonicFox themselves at the EVO Mortal Kombat 1 championship .

Martine Rose, the eponymous designer, says it best: “Gaming is a new lens into how we view sport, and I want to help expand that lens. I’ve always been interested in finding the corners of mainstream culture and shining a light on them through fashion, and this collaboration with Nike offers a unique opportunity to do that in a way that’s authentic to gamers and their communities” .

The campaign’s imagery, lush with retro gamer aesthetics and vintage Nike flair, is more than a clever throwback. It’s a statement: the boundaries between sport, fashion, and queer identity are dissolving. The cast is a who’s who of gaming’s elite—Ana, Billy Mitchell, Scarlett, TenZ, and, of course, SonicFox—each styled as digital-era athletes who belong both in the arena and on the runway .

Visibility isn’t a trend; for LGBTQ+ and especially nonbinary and furry communities, it’s survival. By putting SonicFox in the global spotlight, Martine Rose and Nike are doing more than selling shoes—they’re amplifying the lived realities of queer, trans, and nonbinary people who have always existed at the intersections of culture, sport, and self-definition. The campaign’s tagline, “Skill over status. Individuality over conformity. Expression over everything,” reads like a manifesto for a generation that refuses to choose between their passions and their identities .

For queer audiences, seeing a nonbinary, Black furry claim space in both the gaming world and high fashion isn’t just gratifying—it’s revolutionary. It signals a future where LGBTQ+ people no longer have to code-switch or compartmentalize, where our communities are celebrated as trendsetters and icons, not side notes or afterthoughts.

This campaign lands at a time when anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policy threaten hard-won visibility and rights globally . In response, the Martine Rose x Nike collection’s joyful, unbothered queer presence feels both radical and restorative. By positioning gaming as a legitimate arena of athleticism, the campaign draws a direct line between playful self-expression and personal empowerment—a connection LGBTQ+ communities have long understood and embodied.

SonicFox’s own career is proof: they’ve used the platform of competitive gaming not just for trophies, but for visibility, advocacy, and joy. Their victory speeches, often delivered in full fursuit, regularly shout out the LGBTQ+ community, signaling to every queer kid watching that there is space for them, too. Now, with Martine Rose and Nike at their side, that message gets broadcast in high-def across the worlds of fashion, sport, and beyond .

As the Martine Rose x Nike Sport collection drops globally on October 30, 2025, queer fashionistas, gamers, and culture-makers alike can see themselves reflected in the campaign’s electric imagery and bold silhouettes . For SonicFox and the communities they represent, this isn’t just a collab. It’s a victory lap—a reminder that the queerest, furriest, most playful among us aren’t just on the sidelines. We’re front and center, rewriting the rules of the game, one round at a time.