An article of footwear, apparel or sports equipment, comprising: a film forming at least a portion of a component of the article, the film having a first film surface, a second film surface opposing the first film surface, and a film core between the first film surface and the second film surface, wherein the first film surface or the second film surface or the film core or any combination thereof include a film polymeric material, wherein the first film surface forms an externally-facing surface of the component or an internally-facing surface of the component; and an optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M") disposed on the first film surface, on the second film surface, or within the film core, wherein the optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M") has a first side and a second side opposing the first side, wherein the first side of the optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M"), the second side of the optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M"), or both, impart a structural color to the component; wherein the optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M") is a multilayer reflector or a multilayer filter; wherein the multilayer reflector has at least two layers, including at least two adjacent layers having different refractive indices, and at least one of the layers of the multilayer reflector has a thickness that is about one-fourth of the wavelength of visible light to be reflected by the optical layer structure to impart the structural color; wherein the multilayer filter destructively interferes with light that impinges upon the article so that a single wavelength of light, or a particular range of wavelengths of light, make up the structural color; characterised in that the optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M") alone, not in combination with a textured surface or a primer layer, imparts the structural color to the component. a film forming at least a portion of a component of the article, the film having a first film surface, a second film surface opposing the first film surface, and a film core between the first film surface and the second film surface, wherein the first film surface or the second film surface or the film core or any combination thereof include a film polymeric material, wherein the first film surface forms an externally-facing surface of the component or an internally-facing surface of the component; and an optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M") disposed on the first film surface, on the second film surface, or within the film core, wherein the optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M") has a first side and a second side opposing the first side, wherein the first side of the optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M"), the second side of the optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M"), or both, impart a structural color to the component; wherein the optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M") is a multilayer reflector or a multilayer filter; wherein the multilayer reflector has at least two layers, including at least two adjacent layers having different refractive indices, and at least one of the layers of the multilayer reflector has a thickness that is about one-fourth of the wavelength of visible light to be reflected by the optical layer structure to impart the structural color; wherein the multilayer filter destructively interferes with light that impinges upon the article so that a single wavelength of light, or a particular range of wavelengths of light, make up the structural color; characterised in that the optical element (12A'/12M'; 12A"/12M") alone, not in combination with a textured surface or a primer layer, imparts the structural color to the component.