There are a lot of questions going into the third season of the Overwatch League, which kicks off next month. How will players cope with traveling around the world? Will teams be able to stage events as slick as Blizzard managed in Los Angeles? What’s going on with the exodus of broadcast talent? Will the San Francisco Shock be able to repeat their incredible 2019 run? One thing that isn’t up for debate, though: the league’s new jerseys are sick.
Today OWL unveiled its new line of kits, which were created by notable streetwear designer Jeff Staple. According to the league, the designer worked closely with players to make gear that didn’t just look great, but made sense to wear onstage. Here’s how they describe the process:
Staple worked with Overwatch League players throughout the design process to ensure the kits are a comfortable, functional uniform for competition, while also maintaining Staple’s signature aesthetic. The new kits utilize elevated pin-dot mesh fabric to create lightweight and breathable jerseys to balance and regulate players’ temperature for maximum comfort. The full kit will include a short-sleeve jersey, long-sleeve jersey, jacket, compression sleeve, hat, and beanie for each of the league’s 20 teams.
It’s a big change for the league, which featured fairly bland kits during its first two years of existence, with each team utilizing an identical template, with the exception of a few alternate jerseys. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring the best of the e-sports and streetwear worlds together to create something totally unique and ground-breaking,” Staple said in a statement. “The kits are not only specifically engineered to perform to players’ specifications, but they’re also designed to look great outside the arena.”
While e-sports isn’t necessarily known as a fashion-forward space, that’s slowly changing. Nike partnered with the League of Legends Pro League in China to design each club’s jersey, and just yesterday the brand teamed up with iconic Korean team T1 — home of legendary player Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok — to do the same. Meanwhile, individual teams like 100 Thieves and Faze Clan have become a mix of streetwear brands and e-sports organizations. (In fact, 100 Thieves just unveiled its own 2020 jerseys yesterday.)
You can preorder the new OWL gear on January 28th; meanwhile, the league’s third season kicks off on February 8th in New York.
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Andrew Webster
