Nike presented the new national hockey federations uniforms for the Winter Olympics

Normally, if people would ask me how I imagine a hockey uniform, I would think of some kind of medieval armors, heavy and uncomfortable shells only designed to maintain those who wear them alive. Honestly, I don’t even imagine them as particularly good looking, and I think that people don't think of a hockey uniform when it comes to choosing a nice jersey. From now on, though, thanks to Nike, we will all be forced to change our opinion.

In fact, Nike was in charge of the production of the game uniforms of the national team that next February will participate at the XXIII edition of the Winter Olympics, that will take place in Pyeongchang, in South Korea. For the new Olympic uniforms, the Swoosh rewrote the aesthetic standards of hockey jerseys, presenting a series of shirts that could have the just-right combination of fit and weight. “When athletes look and feel good, they play well”, that has been Nike’s dogma. All the work was based on alchemy, that according to Scott Toudjine-Williams, Nike’s Senior Creative Director for Olympics Apparel, “It’s what most inspired us to look at the jersey as a whole and transform it into something special”.

Practically speaking, this revolution happened both in terms of fabrics and in terms of graphic and colors. First of all, the shirts underwent an upgrading to a lightweight and breathable ripstop material and incorporating more mesh to increase ventilation. Also, the graphics rim had an important role, with the utilization of consolidating fonts across kits (with some exceptions), single-layer laser-perforated numbers and some solutions in terms of colors, like cascading gradients, a new blade Swoosh inspired by a hockey skate blade, and new materials for crests and numbers.

The new hockey uniforms by Nike will debut for the XXIII edition of the Winter Olympics, that will take place in Pyeongchang, in South Korea, next February. Some replica editions are already available on nike.com and sports retailers for each country.