LOEWE × On: We took six elite athletes into the desert to talk training in nature, and what moves them within.
Words by Ellen Ling. Photography by Ryan McGinley.
LOEWE × On returns. The new co-designed capsule is the most ambitious of the collaboration so far, crafted to connect human movement with the natural world, and inspire limitless movement in its limitless beauty. To mark this milestone collection, six endurance-defying athletes were invited to the middle of nowhere in the name of freeing mind, body and form.
Professional tennis player Ben Shelton comes alive in the mountains. Having started tennis in a serious way during his Florida college years, he’s used to the sights and sounds of the ocean, but as a sight less seen, mountains hold a different magic for this newly hailed champion.
“...figuring out things strategically is something you have to learn, but you also have to learn yourself.”
Trading the court — where he recently claimed his first-ever ATP Tour title in Tokyo — for the dramatic terrain of the Palm Springs desert, Shelton gives us a glimpse into his winner’s mindset.
“Focus comes from intention. How dialed in you are to the things you want to accomplish, helps create focus.”
The self-professed late bloomer turned pro in 2022, with an unforgettable US Open debut securing his up-and-coming status, and more than a little buzz. His reign as ‘one to watch’ proved short lived, however, as a rise to the quarter-finals of the 2023 Australian Open and semi-final of the US Open soon made him one to beat, instead.
Nature is a constant yin and yang balance: the calm and the storm, the brutal and the beautiful, and in many ways, Ben Shelton embodies the same duality. On the one hand, his unbridled athleticism and raw, palpable presence have become his calling card, while behind the scenes, he can be found nurturing a mind-over-matter mentality.
“Tennis is a very mental sport. It's like chess. So, playing against your opponent and figuring out things strategically is something you have to learn, but you also have to learn yourself and realize which thoughts you bring to your head help you perform the best.”
And while other athletes might obsess over the off-court noise, Shelton is more interested in disconnecting from the digital realm.
“I think too much stimulus, especially leading up to a match or an important moment, can be unhealthy and not good for your overall performance. So, I think it's good to have some time in silence with no stimulus. I try to turn off my phone when I want to disconnect, not focus on the outside world and just try to be present in the moment, wherever I'm at.”
Joining Shelton on the LOEWE × On adventure is natural-born sprinter, Alexandra Burghardt. The German champion had her sights firmly set on speed from an early age, noting a childhood ambition to be ‘faster than the boys at school’. She needn’t have worried, as a junior career filled with championship titles soon saw Burghardt overtake her classmates.
Since then, Burghardt has had season upon season of international medals, including a World Championships bronze and European Championships gold, as well as reaching the Olympics in both Beijing and Tokyo, taking home a silver medal in the two-woman bobsleigh for the former. While speed has always come naturally, nature gives Burghardt a chance to muse on what matters.
“Nature feels most magical to me when I walk up a mountain, and take a deep breath. Being honest with yourself is one of the most important things, not only as an athlete, but also as a human being, because every action you do, every step you take should feel natural and feel right to you in order to achieve your dreams and your goals”.
Competing in both the Summer and Winter games, Burghardt is attuned to nature’s stark contrast of seasons and conditions, as well as its fragility.
“The more time I spend in nature, the more I want to protect it, because we only have this one planet and we need it.”
For On athlete, Aaliyah Miller, nature offers a solace she can tap into solo.
“Silence factors into my rituals by calming myself in my mind. I slow down, think clearly and really hone into the silence.”
The rising track and field star started her professional career when she traded the plains of Texas for On’s Boulder, Colorado base camp in 2022. Taking to the track and trails with high-altitude air in her lungs, Miller’s new training vantage lets her leave the Rocky Mountains in her dust. Still, there’s always time for stillness.
“To escape, I spend time by myself. Nature feels most magic to me when everything's really still. But seeing how powerful the winds or rain, or the snow can be, [you] can never underestimate Mother Nature.”
Born in Ethiopia and raised in Italy, track sensation Sintayehu Vissa is no stranger to breathtaking views. Like Aaliyah, she’s made On Athletics Club and the rocky ranges of Boulder her backdrop.
“Natural to me means home. I'm originally from Ethiopia, which is a natural environment, and I'm also from Italy, where I live in the middle of nowhere. Now I live in Boulder, also in the middle of a lot of nature, which is freedom, happiness.”
After initially facing the frustration of a language barrier in Italy, running became a haven of expression – an outlet that’s taken her from a small province to the world stage. Exploring the sand and letting the rain engulf her, Vissa feels like a child, reminded of the simplest pleasure there is in play. Whether running in nature or bolting through an indoor mile, she always returns to another of nature’s simplest sensations, one all humans share. Breath.
“I can control time with breathing. Just focusing on my breathing and isolating myself, just shutting the time and then when I'm breathing out, I'm back in the time I left.”
Breath isn’t simply an intuitive reflex. It’s a hard-won art that takes its place alongside a plethora of rituals helping ground the modern athlete. And if you want to meet the very definition of the modern athlete, you couldn’t find a more fitting archetype than OAC middle-distance runner, Mario García Romo.
“I remember when I was a kid I would get mad at the wind, but at the same time I'd be glad…it was almost like a friend helping me to get better.”
“My rituals that prepare me to compete are meditation, journaling, also manifesting. I usually visualize before a competition…not only because I want to be in control of the race but also because I like to motivate myself with the race itself. Some of the things I repeat in my training are just the mantras I tell myself.”
Since his school days, García has been loath to stand still. In the midst, and mist, of Palm Springs meadows, the Spanish 1500m Champion and multi-gold medalist has embraced this yearning for movement in a new way. Hailing from a rural village, the expanse of nature has always offered García a familiar sense of escape, somewhere to switch off or switch modes. But it’s also been an unlikely coach.
“My favorite natural sensation to experience while I run is definitely the wind. I remember when I was a kid I would get mad at the wind, but at the same time I'd be glad…I could get better while running because it's harder to run with it. So it was almost like a friend helping me to get better.”
More reluctant, coach Masato Yokota, has made it his mission to galvanize track and field events in the Japanese athletics scene. Sliding down the dunes, another of nature’s resistance challenges, he declares, “Nature gives me power.”
Though Yokota didn’t have a coach for most of his own record-holding career, the club and grassroots races he’s created now fuel the fire of new athletes. It’s a trajectory that’s taken the upstart from siloed training and medal chasing, to sharing a vision.
The expansive sand slopes are an apt setting for Yokota's reflections on the bigger picture of his sport, which he credits his collaborative nature to. “Running [taught] me teamwork, because I cannot achieve the goal alone.”
Discover the co-designed LOEWE × On capsule, inspired by all that nature and movement can be.
