Detroit Lions new uniforms, branding: A fashionably late review
By J.D. Laker
The Uniforms and Helmet
The Lions rolled out four new uniforms for the 2017 season and they are as the kids say “lit”. To the untrained eye the changes may seem minor, but they are significant to Lions fans who pay attention to the team’s aesthetics.
The home uniform remains Honolulu blue, but now uses silver numbers instead of white. There is no longer white within the striping along the sleeves and while the subtraction of black is a noted improvement this home uniform also uses very little white compared to past iterations. The numbers are outlined in a darker steel color and are now made up of the Lions’ new custom template.
One of the most intriguing elements of the new home uniform is that the stripes on the sleeve contain the new “Lions” wordmark within the center stripe. The opposite sleeve contains “WCF” atop a set of blue and silver vertical stripes to honor the team’s late owner William Clay Ford Sr.
While I have some mixed feelings about the “WCF” logo becoming a permanent fixture on the uniforms because of the lack of success the team had under his ownership. The logo is classy and I like how they used striping detail from the 1960’s era Lions logo.
I recently purchased a home Matthew Stafford #9 and its clean. I’m a big fan of these new home blues, which the team will pair with silver pants containing a bold blue striping pattern echoing the striping on the helmet and sleeves.
The away uniform is white with blue numbers outlined in what Nike calls “anthracite“. The stripes on the uniform are blue and also contain the “Lions” wordmark within the middle horizontal stripe on one side and the “WCF” logo on the other. The away kit has been shown with blue paints featuring silver striping along the sides and is bringing a lot more swagger to the table than last seasons road uni.