Maduro’s Nike Tech sweatsuit and the thirst for notoriety

Shane O’Neill

Images of Nicolás Maduro following his seizure, arrest and arraignment have lit up certain corners of menswear social media.

First, there were the images of the deposed Venezuelan leader in transit wearing what appeared to be a “relaxed fit” Nike Tech fleece sweatsuit, which retails for about $260. Searches for “Nike Tech suit” surged. Streetwear sites reported a spike in sales interest, though initial reports that the suit had “sold out” seem to have been overblown.

Nike declined to comment for this story.

Redditors made “Just Coup It” memes. Some noted that the photo looked like it could be a mixtape from Griselda Records, a Buffalo-based hip-hop crew named after the Colombian drug trafficker Griselda Blanco that uses gritty headshots in its cover art.

Several more noted that Maduro’s mustache, earpiece, eyewear and flotation collar gave him an uncanny resemblance to Dr Disrespect, a popular gaming streamer often photographed in gear that looks similar.

Some people started referring to the color of the sweatsuit as “Maduro gray.”

On Saturday, Maduro was photographed at an airport in New York state wearing a blue hoodie by the U.S. sportswear company Origin. In response, the company’s X account uploaded a video that set photos of Maduro in the hoodie to “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

The clip’s naked commercialism was as familiar as it was exasperating. Peter Roberts, Origin’s founder and CEO, appeared wearing the same blue hoodie. “He definitely gave two thumbs up, so I think he liked the fabric,” Roberts said. Congrats?

According to Roberts, an agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration gave Maduro the hoodie. As of writing, no one has taken credit for the chore coat Maduro wore Monday morning when he arrived in Manhattan on his way to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse.

It’s unclear how or why that four-pocket, contrast-stitched jacket with the dark collar got on Maduro’s torso. A workman’s coat might be on brand for a socialist leader like Maduro. But considering recent U.S. backlash to the chore coat - now associated with urban “creative class” types who adopt blue-collar aesthetics but eschew manual labor - one wonders if it was a deliberate act of sabotage.

The lion’s share of attention, though, is still focused on that Nike Tech sweatsuit.

Maduro’s gray two-piece could join the pantheon of items that achieve fame (or infamy) after they’re linked to sensational news stories.

There was the burgundy sweater that sold out at Nordstrom after UnitedHealthcare shooting suspect Luigi Mangione was photographed wearing it in court at the end of 2024.

There was Club Monaco’s Glaze lipstick that sold out after Monica Lewinsky wore it for her Barbara Walters interview in 1999.

And there were the Nike sneakers found on the feet of the members of the Heaven’s Gate cult after a mass suicide in 1997.

At the time, those shoes were purchased in bulk for around $14 a pair. Today, a new pair of similar Nike Decades shoes is available for $9,000 on Grailed. The listing photo includes the keyhole-shaped Heaven’s Gate logo.

Clearly there’s something morbid going on with the people chasing down suicide sneakers (though some fans of the sneakers denied this in a 2017 Vice story). But what’s going on with people interested in Maduro’s sweatsuit?

There was the shock of seeing an embattled world leader in such casual garb. Maduro looked more like an aging B-boy or a high school gym teacher than what we expect from a stereotypical strongman. The Telegraph offered a particularly wild take: “we pine for the days of quirky despot attire.” We do?

One Instagram user seemed to celebrate the Trump administration’s removal of Maduro by posting an image of himself in a gray Nike zip-up and a MAGA hat with the caption “Buenas Noches Maduro! Happy New Year😂😂🇻🇪”

Other posts weren’t as overtly political. A Barcelona-based filmmaker named Jared Huaman posted an AI-generated video of Maduro DJing with a caption that made a pun on the Spanish word “inmaduro,” which means “immature” but sounds like “Maduro.”

Igmel Vargas, whose Instagram bio identifies him as the CEO of ClubHouse Records, posted several doctored photos of himself with Maduro. “Coming soon maduro music 🤣,” one caption reads.

In another photo, Vargas is sitting in between Maduro and President Donald Trump, who also sports a gray two-piece and gives the finger to the camera.

The image is clearly provocative. But what is it meant to provoke? Unclear.

Considering how ambivalent Americans are about the U.S. action in Venezuela, an ambiguous and perplexing meme like this might be a fitting tribute.