adidas sideline 2023 FOOTBALL STRATEGY GAMES
Each fall adidas partners with various adidas sponsored NCAA schools to create special football uniforms. Fans, coaches and players are eager to wear gear before and after the games to celebrate these moments, called strategy games, that are highly specific to each school. For fall 2023, I collaborated with our football design team to create three sideline coach’s pieces to be worn and gifted to athletes, coaches and staff for these events.
Special focus went into a close relationship with our design partners in football to replicate or iterate details from each football uniform: offering a seamless look from field to sideline. My cross functional team became closely acquainted with the football team, working with factory partners, school feedback, and troubleshooting testing and licensing requirements.
See below for top to bottom details to the three schools that I collaborated with on a coach’s sideline piece for Fall 2023: University of Miami, Texas A&M, and University of Washington.
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI NEON NIGHTS
TEXAS A&M 100TH YEAR OF 12TH MAN
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON ROYALTY
adidas sideline 2023 PLAYOFF PACK
The 2023 Playoff Pack was created to offer an additional warm weather travel set to athletes as they enter their post season tournaments.
Special consideration is given to the time of year, late fall into holiday season, when athletes will be traveling through drafty airports, napping on busses, and generally seeking comfort. In focus groups, athletes shared a need for comfort with baggy fits, cozy fabrics, and big roomy pockets.
Early design explorations studied the classic adidas track suit and it’s evolution through the brand’s history. I was inspired by track suit silhouettes from the 80’s to mid 90’s that offered interesting design language, and were extra roomy but felt stylish. I was drawn to materials that felt warm, and landed on a soft cotton/poly velvet material that was warm and breathable, with a pile high enough to offer an interesting textural detail when embroidered. The collection was briefed to be a single neutral color that would be decorated for any team, so instead of using color, I utilized piping call back to the adidas tracksuits from my inspiraton.
The collection consists of a men’s and women’s travel suit and a warmup piece for teams to wear before games or on the sideline. Each piece was designed as a blank, with intention to be decorated for each team in the post season with embroidered team logos and word marks.
adidas sideline 2023 PINNACLE PACK
The 2023 Pinnacle Pack, our second small special events pack, was created to offer a best level product offering for post season, focusing on performance materials and a clean, elevated look. This pack was designed blank, with graphic direction, to be decorated in the post season.
Coaches were our focus consumer for this pack. They expressed that they wanted something warm and new to wear in the post season. Price points were slightly higher than our sideline range, with expectation that material, trim and design would drive an elevated value for each piece.
Our consumer need for elevated and premium pieces inspired my early explorations. Crest graphics with laurels and banners offered a collegiate and prestigious feel. I was drawn to layering in textures an engineered knits, offering subtle textural details that felt thoughtful, custom and high-end.
The collection consists of men’s and women’s knit travel suits and coach’s tops. Silhouette choices were open brief, allowing design to pitch back ideas. My research in market trends and athlete needs pointed me towards styles that were nontraditional to our sideline range: vintage coach’s jackets, traditional varsity jackets and cuffed joggers.
Material choice centered around our higher price point which opened an opportunity to utilize high-end, technical materials.
Wovens: The men’s and women’s coach’s jackets are a double weave woven material. The face side is a dry ripstop texture with a soft brushed terry back side. Content is 95% recycled polyester and 5% elastane, with cold.rdy performance technology- keeping the wearer warm and wicking away any perspiration and it’s cooling effects.
Knits: The knit varsity jackets and joggers are a jacquard knitted fleece, with a subtle chevron detail on the face side and soft brushed polar fleece on the back side. This material is also heat.rdy, a technology that gives the athlete an advantage in warming up in cold environments.
The collection features all black colored silhouettes with small pops of silver to highlight thoughtful details- a custom flat knit collar, a hidden snap tape, or a subtle piping.
When decorated with custom crests and banners in silver and black, the collection is finished for athletes and coaches and exudes a sense of quiet luxury.
