By Zach Goins
August 31, 2020 (updated)
There’s a new look coming to Buzz City this year.
The Charlotte Hornets on Monday unveiled two new uniforms for the upcoming 2020-2021 season, which feature a modern twist on the classic Hornets style. Dubbed the Association and Icon Edition uniforms, the new threads mark the team’s first full uniform redesign since the franchise rebranded itself from the Bobcats back to the Hornets in 2014.
The two combinations work as inverses of each other, as the Association Edition features a white jersey with Hornets across the chest, double teal pinstripes and matching shorts, while the Icon Edition is teal with Charlotte and double white pinstripes. Both pairs of shorts feature the team’s purple Hornet silhouette logo on the outer thigh, but they add new twists at the waistline. Centered in the front waistline of the Association shorts is a celluloid “H-Cell” logo, meant to mimic a hornet’s honeycomb shape, while the Icon unis sport a “C-Cell” design.”
Hornets Senior Vice President of Consumer Engagement Seth Bennett met with the media via Zoom Monday to discuss the redesign, which he said has been in the works for nearly three years.
“We draw elements from each different version of uniforms that we’ve had,” Bennett said. “We work to weave that history in a way that’s fierce, but yet formal. The purity is represented in this uniform, we believe, in the essence of basketball. And it also speaks to the basketball tradition, certainly here in Charlotte, but also across the Carolinas.”
Bennett said the Hornets marketing team worked closely with the NBA, Nike, Jordan Brand and an outside agency called RARE Design in order to craft the perfect new additions to the team’s legendary uniforms. The franchise worked closely with RARE when they transitioned from the Bobcats back to the Hornets.
“You’ll see a streamlined version of uniform,” Bennett explained. “We feel that it’s bold, but yet symbolic and a unified look that we have. It’s a modern take, a relevant take on our storied basketball tradition. We definitely respect the past within our design features, but it also speaks to the future. We’ve drawn inspiration from the great’s of basketball that have worn our jersey, and we hope that this will inspire the future for us.”
The new uniforms will be used as the team’s primary home and away uniforms heading into the year, but the Hornets will also still have access to last year’s purple Statement Edition uniforms, as well as the Classic Edition and a yet-to-be-announced 2020 City Edition.
Bennett said the team expects the new uniforms to launch at retail outlets across Charlotte and the nation beginning Oct. 1.
Update 8/31/2020 at 4:15 p.m.:
The uniforms won’t be the only new design in the Spectrum Center this season. The team also unveiled a brand new court design, which heavily features the cell (aka honeycomb) pattern. Like the uniforms, this will be the first time the team has redesigned its court since the Hornets’ return in 2014.
The new court layout also features the team’s partial primary logo– a front-facing hornet surrounded by a cell– at center court, which replaces the traditional primary logo. Additionally, the cell pattern only appears outside of the three-point line, while the purple Hornets silhouette logo replaces the Buzz City logo inside of the three-point logo.
With new uniforms, a new court, and the third-overall pick in October’s NBA Draft, there’s bound to be a lot of change coming to Charlotte next year– now it’s time to see if that translates to success.
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