Rachel Denti said that the complaints have no semantic or conceptual point of view, and that her life has not changed after the reactions
A designer from Nike se no LinkedIn after negative reactions to the Brazilian football team’s new shirt for the 2026 World Cup. She associated the tone of the criticism with the fact that she is a woman.
Rachel responded to a comment that praised her work and her courage in exposing herself to a mostly male audience. “If it weren’t for the ‘absent father’ fringe, it would be something else about being a woman, standard or not, left or right, ugly or beautiful. Once I understood that, no comment affected me anymore and I even started to find memes and other absurdities funny”declared the designer.
The campaign to launch the Brazilian team’s shirt resulted in . After the reaction over the use of the expression the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) stated on Thursday (26.mar.2026) that the main uniform will only have the word “Brazil” in the socks.
Rachel to other comments on LinkedIn. One of them said that the slogan “Go, Brasa!” it’s bad. Designer Leandro Wollick, stylist at Fakini, declared that this would be “a fact and not an opinion”. He argued that it would be a lack of common sense to try to use the “artifice of being a woman” to try to minimize criticism. For him, if he were a man, criticism would be “much worse”.
In response, Rachel said that she has worked at Nike for 5 years and is familiar with opinions “warm” about the products she collaborated on. The designer said that people inferred that she didn’t understand football, but that the way she dresses is an option that doesn’t stop her from following the sport.
“Opinion and criticism are all up to the customer”said Rachel in one of the answers. In another comment, she responded to a post by art director Pedro Villas Bôas, from Ezcuzê. He said talk “Canary yellow” to present the Brazilian team’s t-shirt in the campaign was “a bit inconsequential”but otherwise, critics were looking for “eggshell hair”.
Rachel that Nike has its own color catalogue, and the name Canary is the reference color for the Brazilian team’s shirt. “I spoke out of curiosity as to why we chose this yellow, among the other shades available”he explained.
Creative director Carol Saravalli, from Coletivo Navegante, wrote a text in support of Rachel. Said she would be criticized for having mini bangs and having “feminist face”. And he said: “You already knew about the bomb and courageously assumed it”.
For the director, the team’s shirt was beautiful. “It’s full of references, of Brazilianness and, in my opinion, the textures are impeccable. You really shine!”published Carol.
Rachel thanked her and said she knew she would deal with complaints from Brazilians. “I confess that the nature of the criticism surprised me. What I understood was that the problem was not the “Canary” […]nor “Brasa”, nor anything from a semantic or conceptual point of view. The problem was what you pointed out”, he declared.
“Once I understood this, no comments affected me anymore and I even started to find memes and other absurdities funny. And in practice, nothing in my life has changed. I’m waking up, sleeping, living, working the same… Regardless of how many crazy comments I’m receiving on social media. Life goes on”, he declared.
Rachel graduated in graphic design at UnB (University of Brasília). Studied arts Royal Academy of Arts in the Netherlands, or (Royal Academy of Arts, in the Netherlands). He has been at Nike for over 5 years working as a designer. Previously, she worked as an intern at the Federal Senate and Sebrae, at and at .
On her website, the designer says she is an art director, graphic designer and illustrator. Lives in Portland, in the United States. “I am currently Apparel Design Lead for APLA’s Express Lane team (Asia Pacific and Latin America), working on hyperlocal and trend-focused collections”he explained.
