How a top club Nike jersey is made

When we see the new jersey of a Nike team on the pitch - as well as those of other brands - we focus only on the superficial aspect of the uniform. But in reality, the design of a shirt is a path that starts much earlier: it is built on ideas, confrontation and dialogue between the brand and the football club, and this requires months of preparation. In fact, the big teams - those in nike's sponsorship pyramid have the most important contract - plan their jersey two years earlier, and the result we usually see in Spring - only this year, due to covid, happened in the summer - is the result of the work of a designer who manages to read the aesthetic need of a club a long time before. 

The FootyHeadlines website has tried to reproduce the process of making the gaming jerseys that Nike prepares for these companies - and it has done so, following the supply chain that Swoosh uses for hackney wick F.C., which despite not being a professional club let alone Elite, has a relationship with the brand such as the European Swoosh big clubs. 

The process leading to the creation of a Nike jersey for a top club of the Elite group has three steps - plus a subsequent one, let's say bonus. The first consists in the elaboration of the design of the kit (shirt and shorts), the second is the creation of a conceptual model; the third, instead, is the final preparation before the launch - which, however, nike always deals with.  

Step 1: the Brainstorming

It all starts with a brainstorming, in which a designer confronts other members of Nike on various ideas to design the new jersey. Before projects and drafts are drawn, Nike always tries to find the basis for a common template, with a minimally similar design for the various teams you will go to work on. Then there will be the various conceptual ideas of model, and at this process there is not a single designer, but more people work. In the end, each club has its own original and customized design, but for that season, Nike used a unique artistic structure.   

Step 2: the Concept Kit

At this point, there is a designer who takes care of working definitively on the complete design of the shirt and a concept kit is created, a partially complete uniform that represents the definitive idea of mesh. A 3D rendering and drawings are made to show what the suit will look like once completed, with mannequins and demonstration of the aesthetics of the mesh according to movements. This is shown to Nike's top management and, later, is shown to the club and team offering an opinion on patterns and templates. If so, corrections may be made or, if all is to be welcomed, proceed. All this takes place about 18 months before the official launch of the product.

Step 3: the Launch

Time is apparently so much for a uniform that will come on stage after more than a year, but it is a necessary period to do tests. In fact, 18 months earlier Nike inaugurated the physical production of some models of the jerseys, which are tested and tested on the models. In this case, further changes may be made. If the jersey doesn't have any further aesthetic details to fix and if the club has definitively approved, the design process is definitely finished and, five months before the official launch, Nike begins the intensive production of the jerseys, which will then enter the market. 

Finally, once the production process is finished, Nike takes care of the softer side of this machine which is the advertising of the product. In practice, the brand works on social media promotion campaigns and uniform shooting, often using external agencies for models and locations. Very often, as we have seen again this year, both the models and players and footballers of the club are involved in the shootings.