PUMA and WPS Uniform Unveiling

On Tuesday, February 24th, 2009, Womens Professional Soccer, PUMA and international soccer stars Marta Vieira da Silva, Leslie Osborne and Amy Rodriguez revealed the new home and away uniforms for the leagues inaugural season. The event was hosted by media personality and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Summer Sanders. In addition to the uniforms, fashion designer Christian Siriano showcased his fashion interpretation of the home and away uniforms, creating two unique outfits inspired by the sport and team uniforms.

Courtesy of: Women’s Pro Soccer

Are you Serious about the Skort?

 

Are you serious about the skort?  Seriously.

So today the WPS and Puma unveiled the WPS uniforms. To be honest I think the uniforms are somewhat ok but and I have to big issues with them.

 Are you serious about the skorts? When I first saw them I automatically thought about the movie, “A League of Their Own,” when the players are asked to wear regular skirts instead of pants.  I mean these women are soccer players not models. I mean honestly how demeaning is it going to be to play soccer in a skort. I can already hear the sexist comment, “Dirt in the skirt,” “Go back to the kitchen,” “We want to see more leg and hike up your skort a little.” According to Puma and the designer of the uniforms, wanted a more feminine look and not have baggy soccer shorts. Come on there is a difference between being feminine and just plain out stupid. For example, the uniforms the USWNT wear are feminine enough. The shorts are not baggy and the jerseys are the design for a women’s body. I would defiantly like to know what did the players really think about the skorts. Lets just hope that the skorts where only for the fashion show.

The jerseys. Ok let me first say I really like the color combinations, especially (what a surprise) the Sol’s away uniform. I really think they tried to parallel the L.A. Galaxy uniform colors, which is fine by me. The back of the uniform is pretty cool. I have not come across any pictures of the back of the uniform but the local Los Angeles Fox station did broadcast highlights of the show, where you can see the back of the jersey.

What I don’t like about the jerseys is that most of them look unoriginal prototypes. It’s like if they just simply changed the colors and logos. Ok now maybe I’m being a bit to critical on the jerseys, I guess they are ok, since the league just started, but the SKORTS, COME ON!!!!!!!!!!

PUMA® And Women’s Professional Soccer Unveil 2009 Season Uniforms With Sport And Style

New Home and Away Uniforms Fuse Performance with Fashion, Bold Color and Feminine Flare

NEW YORK, NY (February 24, 2008) – Global sportlifestyle brand PUMA® and the stars of Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), including three-time FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year, Marta, number one WPS draft pick and Olympic Gold Medalist, Amy Rodriguez, and US National Team midfielder and Women’s World Cup bronze medalist, Leslie Osborne, unveiled the home and away uniforms in New York today at a high-profile fashion presentation.  TV personality and two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Summer Sanders hosted the event, while fashion designer and winner of TV’s Project Runway Season 4, Christian Siriano added to the excitement by designing his own fashion interpretation of a home and away uniforms inspired by the colors and materials from of the league’s uniforms.  The WPS uniforms will be put to the test in the WPS Inaugural Match on March 29th in Los Angeles, California when the Los Angeles Sol takes on the Washington Freedom.

PUMA brings a sense of fashion, flare and femininity to the kits with tailored jerseys, shorts and wraps instead of the oversized men’s soccer shorts and tees traditionally seen in the sport.  Although the uniforms have a more tailored silhouette, the technical materials, cuts and shapes are driven purely by performance, designed for the players to have the maximum flexibility to get them to the ball faster.  Made with 100% polyester, the PUMA WPS kits contain contract mesh inserts for comfort and breathability and, a shaped hem and flatlock stitching for a more feminine silhouette.  Each garment also has a wicking finish to allow for moisture management, keeping the players dry and comfortable.

“Having the right technical gear and footwear during a 90-minute game is crucial to any soccer player,” said Leslie Osborne.  “PUMA has made apparel and footwear with the player in mind and they have truly proven themselves once again with the new WPS uniforms.  As a PUMA player, I enjoy PUMA both on and off the field.  Not only do they make athletic wear that performs, but its comfortable and stylish.”

Two players from each of the league’s seven teams graced the runway in their respective home and away kits:  recently signed PUMA athlete, Amy Rodriguez and Angela Hucles for the Boston Breakers, Carli Lloyd and Nikki Krzysik for the Chicago Red Stars, PUMA athlete Leslie Osborne and Christina DiMartino for FC Gold Pride (San Francisco Bay Area), PUMA athlete Marta Vieira da Silva and Johanna Frisk for the Los Angeles Sol, Hope Solo and Lori Chalupny for the Saint Louis Athletica, Heather O’Reilly and Christie Rampone for the Sky Blue FC (NY/NJ Area), and Allie Long and Sarah Huffman for the Washington Freedom.  The key color combinations for the team uniforms are:

HOME AWAY

Boston Breakers                          Team Royal                                 White
Chicago Red Stars                        Team Pearl Blue                        White

FC Gold Pride                              PUMA Black                                Team Gold

Los Angeles Sol                           New Navy & Team Yellow         White

Saint Louis Athletica                     USA Forest Green                    Pace Grey

Sky Blue FC                                Team Pearl Blue                            Team Orange

Washington Freedom                    New Navy                                  PUMA Red

Christian Siriano, known for his bold work during Project Runway Season 4, has been a long time friend of the PUMA brand, designing outfits for musicians such as Estelle and Lady Gaga using existing PUMA fabrics and pieces.  For this special uniform unveiling, in true PUMA fashion, Siriano designed his take on the home and away uniforms by infusing his style, personality and charm with the PUMA sportlifestyle DNA and female athletes in mind.  The two design creations were showcased as part of the WPS Uniform unveiling, reinforcing PUMA’s fusion of both sport and lifestyle.  After the event, PUMA will work with WPS to highlight Siriano’s custom-designed outfits throughout the season and eventually auction his pieces later in the year, with proceeds going to a charity befitting of WPS, PUMA and Siriano.

“This is the first time I’ve ever designed for athletes – it’s perfect because I always design for strong women in my Ready to Wear collections and professional athletes definitely have to be tough in mind, body and spirit,” said fashion designer Christian Siriano.  “These soccer players amazing and I love it!”

PUMA became an official founding partner of WPS and an official sponsor of all WPS franchises in December 2008. The multi-year partnership makes PUMA the official sport and lifestyle apparel, footwear and equipment supplier of WPS, including the official WPS Match Ball.  In addition to on-field performance wear, PUMA will outfit the athletes and teams at all WPS-related events, activities and WPS appearances in sportlifestyle apparel. This partnership will allow PUMA and WPS to enhance the game of women’s soccer together and will act as the foundation in the PUMA Women’s category.  PUMA will launch a fully integrated advertising campaign starring their PUMA athletes, Marta Vieira da Silva, Leslie Osborne and Amy Rodriguez, that will run this upcoming season.

PUMA is a leader in the game of soccer with a European portfolio of five National Teams, including current FIFA World Cup™ holders Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Bulgaria and Czech Republic.  In addition to being the official supplier to these European teams, PUMA has a long standing relationship with 11 African soccer Federations including the current CAF African Cup of Nations™ holders, Egypt, Ghana, Cameroon, Angola, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia and Namibia.  In the U.S., PUMA has worked with all-star Major League Soccer athletes such as Matt Reis, Brian Ching and Dwayne De Rosario.

Courtesy of: Puma