>Unlabelled > How the new Seahawks uniforms came to be | Seattle Seahawks & NFL News

How the new Seahawks uniforms came to be | Seattle Seahawks & NFL News

Posted on Monday, April 30, 2012 by today

In a sport such as football, where tradition is as important as modernization, it's no wonder Seahawks fans are mixed on the team's new Nike uniforms.

New Seahawks blue home uniform shoulder

The feather-pattern neckline striping can be clearly seen in 'arena green' on the Seahawks' new home jerseys. (Seahawks image)

On the one hand, the Seahawks returned to a more classic look with the incorporation of gray in the updated logo. Gone is the lighter "Seahawks blue" that debuted 10 years ago, when Seattle last got an image overhaul. And most Seahawks fans were relieved that Nike's new Seahawks uniforms, unveiled Tuesday, did not use lime green as a base color.

On the other hand, the new uniforms are far more contemporary than the old ones. Especially compared to the rest of the NFL teams, the Seahawks got a more modern look, comparable to the edgy designs Nike has developed for college teams like Oregon.

But whether it's obvious or not, tradition was the core inspiration for the new Seahawks uniforms. As Clare Farnsworth wrote Tuesday for Seahawks.com, it was the spirit of the Pacific Northwest — specifically, Native American art and totems — that influenced Nike's global creative director, Todd Van Horne, when he started designing the new unis two years ago.

"That's our inspiration," Van Horne told Seahawks.com. "Living in the Northwest, you see a lot of that native style. So we just thought the most powerful image of that are the totems, and the most treasured of those totems is typically the thunderbird totem.

"Thunderbird. Seahawks. You have that obvious relationship. It's the symbol of supernatural power and strength. So we thought this is a great inspiration. Let's bring that into the design."

New Seahawks uniform blue home pants

The stripes as seen on the Seahawks' new home pants. (Seahawks image)

One significant design element of the new Seahawks jerseys is the feather pattern that shows up in many places. The design, inspired by coastal Indian art, shows up as texturing for the numbers and helmet, and as stripes on the pants and neckline.

But those stripes have another meaning, one with roots in a more recent Seahawks tradition. On the pants and on the neckline, the stripes are each composed of 12 feathers, representing the 12th Man.

"They are feathers for that exact same reason: that Northwest style," Van Horne told Farnsworth. "It's collaborative. (The Seahawks) said, 'Here are the stories we'd like to tell.' For the Seahawks, it was the 12th Man and honoring their fans. They love that relationship and they described it. And we just said, 'Wow, let's do something with this. We can add some subtle coding and nuance to that 12th Man that make the fan feel part of it.'"

You can read much more about Van Horne and Nike's uniform design at Seahawks.com. Below are some photo galleries of the new Seahawks uniforms and helmets, and of Seattle's uniforms through the ages.

What do you think of the new Seahawks uniforms? Vote in our poll below.

New Seahawks uniforms

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New Seahawks helmet

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Seahawks uniforms through time

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Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle news. Contact Nick Eaton at nickeaton@seattlepi.com or on Twitter as @njeaton.

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