The process took months of trial and error, but the Illinois football program knew what it was looking for when it came time to design new uniforms ahead of the 2023 season.
The list of priorities was fairly straightforward: The uniforms needed to incorporate orange, blue, and white on the jerseys and pants, have a modern look while keeping traditional aspects of the past, and include the program's "famILLy" logo.
Going through several iterations before settling on the final product, the Illini unveiled their new threads on Monday, a uniform the team will debut at their home opener against Toledo on Sept. 2.
"This is a pretty long-standing football program, so having something that ties everything together was important," said Jake Rosch, director of football equipment operations. "That was what we were looking for."
It started with a uniform-building template before a group that included director of athletics Josh Whitman and head coach Bret Bielema brainstormed elements that they each viewed as essential to incorporate. After going through several rounds of meetings and designs, the committee put together five ideas that were used to determine a final product.Â
"We had to take all those ideas into account," Rosch said. "It was like, 'Hey, I like this. I don't like this. I like this and this on jersey two and this on jersey three.'We then had to go back and make sure all those parties saw it to make sure everybody was on the same page with the direction it was going. Then, it was about fine-tuning it each time. Between the conversations and designing, it took a couple of months to finalize exactly what we wanted it to look like."
Gallery: (7-24-2023) FB: Uniform Reveal
The Illini will continue to wear their iconic orange helmets with the Block I logo, a look the school has used for the past decade. Though the stripe was re-added to the helmet in 2021 following a four-year hiatus, the colors of the stripe on the new helmet will be inverted, featuring one central white and two outer blue stripes. This look replicates the stripe used from 1989-2012, when the helmet featured the underlined Illinois logo.
That same pattern is mirrored on the jerseys and pants, creating uniformity throughout the attire, and the vertical stripes pay homage to the pillars on the east and west sides of Memorial Stadium. The re-introduction of the helmet stripe was a point of emphasis when Bielema arrived on campus ahead of the 2021 season, and his decision to solely use the team's orange helmet was essential as he looked to create an identifiable brand and look at Illinois.
"When you're building your brand and you're building the image of your program, you want to know who's playing and the type of team that's going to come out and play when you see us on TV," Rosch said. "It is a clean look, especially since there are not a lot of teams that use orange, so it's a pretty identifiable feature of the helmet. That was important for Coach and the program going forward to get a consistent look and then go from there."
Like the jerseys and pants, the helmets will have a slightly different look from one season ago. They will be painted gloss orange rather than flat matte, giving them a more modern feel. The Block I logo will also appear on the front of the helmet, and the back will say "famILLy." The warning label will continue to be in the shape of the state of Illinois, the American flag will remain, and "Fighting Illini" will be included on the chin strap.
The Illini will continue to wear both blue and white uniforms, though a two-tone number will be introduced, which will incorporate all three colors – orange, blue, and white – into each outfit. The team's blue jerseys feature white numbers with an orange outline, while the white jerseys include orange numbers with a blue outline around the numbers.
The shoulders of the jerseys will feature a stripe pattern that mirrors the helmet, with the colors aligning with the rest of the uniform. Player numbers will also be displayed on the shoulders, an element that has been included in previous jerseys. The word "famILLy" is featured inside the collar of each jersey, and the front collar includes the Block I logo.
The uniform pants also include the stripe, which ties the helmet, jersey, and pants together flawlessly. The tri-color look also allows the jerseys and pants to be interchangeable, Rosch says, and the stripes on the helmet, jerseys, and pants all go in the same direction to create a seamless flow within the entire uniform.
"They all look pretty sharp," Rosch said. "Each of them will have all three colors on it, so it helps the numbers pop a little bit better. Whether you wear a blue top and white bottom, blue top and orange bottom, whatever, all three colors are on each thing so they'll all connect together. It looks uniform, regardless of what order you put it in."
The Illini uniforms successfully incorporate all three of the team's main priorities: All jerseys and pants feature orange, blue, and white; the uniforms have a modern look while still using aspects from past uniforms; and "famILLy" is featured on the jersey collar.
When Illinois takes the field in its season opener in just under six weeks, the team will continue to honor the program's values, traditions, and history, albeit while rocking modern threads.
"It's a traditional look, obviously, with the Big Ten being as traditional and long-standing as it is," Rosch said. "It's always nice to have that classic, clean look. It's something that when you see us on TV, you know who you're watching. You don't want to get muddied up too much where it's not clear who you're watching as soon as you turn it on. We're staying true to those colors."
