When introduced as an expansion team in 1988, the Charlotte Hornets hired a fashion designer—a first for an NBA team—to design their uniforms. Alexander Julian used his signature color, teal, that would set the trend as “the color of the 90’s”.
Teal Hornets gear had every 90s kid thinking they were fresh, even if they couldn’t name a single player.
We all knew Muggsy Bogues
LJ, Zo, Gill, 3 PT sniper in NBA90 whatever Rex Chapman! Used them for my dynasty playthrough during the blizzard of 94 or 96. Good times!
Shoutouts to Matt Geiger
Sixers legend Matt Geiger
He was truly the ideal back up center. Vlade, Geiger, and Anthony Mason was a mean big man rotation
Mourning, baby!
And what about those pinstripes? Legendary.
The teal Hornets starter jacket was absolute gas
It is THE starter jacket.
This girl at a neighboring school had the one with the honey comb sleeves. Man I wanted it so bad. My mom bought be the bulls one, because obviously, but I secretly wanted the hornets. My schools mascot was the hornets ffs.
We didn’t have Starter money growing up but my parents found a way to at least get me the Pro Player one. I’d wear it now if it fit.
Grandmama
People would be unhinged about that now
Still happens now, even across the pond here in Australia.
Loads of Hornets gear because “it looks cool” but no one can name any player especially now that LaMelo has been traded.
Naz Reid.
Naz Reid
Shit, I forgot about that.
All-star season loading…
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wrong franchise. everything in New Orleans belongs to the Pelicans. everything in Charlotte belongs to the Hornets
I see the current Hornets as a continuation of the Bobcats, and the Pelicans as a continuation of the relocated original Hornets. I know a lot of people and the officialdom see it otherwise, though.
The teal BDavis jersey was 👨🍳👨🍳
For some reason I can only picture Baron in a NO hornets jersey with that ugly yellow added.
Might be an unpopular opinion but I liked the teal Pistons 90’s jerseys too
Dell Curry
Kelly Tripucka
Lollll Zo. Gma. And Bogues. Everybody knew the Hornets kid
Sure they didn’t think of vertical videos being a thing back then
Real ballers (me) called them the bumblebees
I feel so seen
That MFer cooked
He was a damn good fashion designer. More teams should try doing this.
did somebody ask for more nikeslop?
We had freaking P Diddy as our jersey designer
Both with the uniforms and his BBQ payments.
Whatever he was paid it wasn’t enough
It was allegedly Carolina BBQ. lol
Carolina gold or meat soaked in vinegar?
Insane bbq knowledge
BBQIQ off the charts
Maybe, Lexington Style which is less vinegary than Eastern. Chapel Hill is kinda on the BBQ line in NC.
We talking East or West NC BBQ?
That I don’t know. He’s from Chapel Hill so it’s kind of a toss up what he probably grew up eating.
Apparently this dude also added the argyle details to the UNC jerseys. Str8 class.
Edit: you can find some vintage sweaters from his Colours line on eBay that are very 80s and awesome.
As a fan of both, I just made this connection when I read his name. Looked it up to confirm and then saw your comment. So dope. I believe all of Roy’s sport jackets are Julian
Those uni’s are still better than what they wear now, it was truly timeless
Look I like the design too. But they’re almost the 180-degree opposite of “timeless.” It’s a distinctive look that’s instantly recognizable to most people as being of a specific time. It practically oozes 90s I mean come on
Comeon what? Those are still better than the soulless slop they wear now.
come on what
Dude he already told you. He’s arguing about the definition of the word timeless. Not that they’re not better than jerseys now
They’re both sort of correct.
The jerseys have a 90s look to them. But their appeal is unaffected by the passage of time. It’s nearly 40 years later, and people still like them.
And tbh, the jerseys themselves don’t scream “90s” as much as the jacket does.
Plus, the jersey was technically designed late 80s, not 90s, anyway.
The bee logo, the colors, pin stripes, grandmama… it was peak
Have to pop in to tell everybody how I almost resisted coming in here to say “Bee?!????”. Almost.
Yeah and then sold the rights in exchange for 5lbs of Carolina BBQ per month lmao
I mean there’s no world where a team hires a designer but allows them to retain the rights. I’m sure he was paid actual money for the work, and then this was a fun PR story - “our BBQ is so good it can be used as currency!”
He was RIGHT too!
In the video, the clothing items he showed that were supposed to be the inspiration for the Hornets colors were released in 1988, after the Hornets already existed. The sweater had the honeycomb pattern the Hornets used. The Hornets and imagery were announced and finalized in 1987, so the design would have been done prior.
When they showed dude’s prior work, his “signature color palate” was closer to the eggplant and jade that the Anaheim Mighty Ducks wore. The Hornets were his first time working with a sports franchise.
Looking into his history, I think it’s more likely that the Hornets choosing the colors impacted his use of the colorway than the other way around.
It was a perfect launch. A shame Shim bought the team.
I heard this uni was so lit that even grandmothers were wearing it!
Because the 90s are GOATed and Teal fucking rules.
I mean he wasn’t wrong Hornets branding has been fire as hell.
If you like this I encourage you to watch Phil Edwards’ other stuff. Basically all about how and why things became what they are.
Those purple hornets jerseys from the 90’s were mad dope to me
The fact that fashion designers aren’t brought in more to design jerseys is a huge oversight
Those teal Honda Accords in the early 90’s were iconic. I wonder if this truly was the inspiration.
I had a teal green 1993 honda civic. Loved that thing.
Wait, who designed all the other uniforms if they weren’t fashion designers?
So for the Grizzlies’ current logo and color scheme they used an agency who will approach with the logo and colorways first and everything else flows from there including the uniform. Though there are principles that unite all disciplines in design, it’s typically done with an approach from the graphic design first rather than from fashion design. I can’t speak to others but I’d bet it’s similar. So the Charlotte Hornets’ initial approach stood out.
Flo Jo designed the cool Pacers unis of yore
Pretty sure Paul Revere, the silversmith, designed Bostons.
Loved this bit in Sunny
Gotta look phat.
The Jazz cup of jerseys. This was absolute fire in the 90’s.
Hornets Starter Jackets,
With the pinstripes too
This has probably already been mentioned but 99 percent invisible podcast has a good episode with the actual designer of all the famous 90s NBA logos including the wild ass raptors logo. It’s honestly fascinating to hear his thought process and what he had to do
Every kid in the 90s had a Hornets Teal puffer jacket.
Iconic jersey and team.
Hornets probably is one of the best and recognizable color combos in the league
Knocked that one way out of the park
and the first season, at least, the shorts had pleats.
I was mocked when I wore a pair to the park courts
It was so popular that they were even used in an Ernest movie. (Slam Dunk Ernest to be specific.)
Even living in Texas you would consistently see 3 Starter jackets. The Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bulls, and of course Charlotte Hornets
Wish more teams did this. The pacers FloJos from the same era were nice too
As insanely popular as Hornets gear was in the early 90’s,by the late 90’s it was very much unfashionable if you were a guy wearing anything that bright as a dude in HS. At best people would call a dude corny,at worst you might get a slur headed your way.
This is true. Look at the NFL, all the teams changed to horrible very dark jerseys late 90s. Look how they ruined Denver broncos, Seattle Seahawks, Philly eagles.
Thankfully the bright ones are just now coming back.
I can still do without the Tampa though