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Strategy October 31, 2018

Rocky Inspires Philadelphia 76ers’ New City Edition Uniforms

The creativity that went into the kits carries inspiration and edification for promotional products distributors.

By  Christopher Ruvo

Yo Adrian: The Sixers did it!

By “did it,” we mean the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers have debuted new Nike “City Edition” uniforms that take some inspiration from the famous (kinda manky) sweatsuit that title character Rocky Balboa wore in Rocky, the Oscar-winning movie from 1976 that is, of course, set in Philly.

The Rocky sweatsuit in action:

The Sixers new City Edition uniforms:

These images are set at the Front Street gym where Rocky trained:

According to the NBA, the uniforms embody Philly’s underdog “challenger’s mentality” – a mentality that inspired the Rocky and Creed films. The 13 stars on the jersey are a nod to the boxing ring where Balboa first took on Apollo Creed, while the gray sweatsuit-textured top and trunks are influenced by the sweat clothes Rocky wore on his iconic city-spanning training runs and meat locker punch-ups in the City of Brotherly Love. A similar sweatsuit was later worn by character Adonis Creed, and thus also provided inspiration. While Philly’s favorite founding father Ben Franklin is spotlighted on the waistband’s center, the rest of the band – with its crisp blue, red and white colors – takes its cue from Rocky’s championship belt.

This is Sixers player J.J. Redick getting his swag on in the team’s new City Edition uniform.

Sixers guard Markelle Fultz certainly seemed to dig the new unis:

We’re guessing these guys will too:

The Sixers plan to wear the City Edition jerseys for the first time on November 9th. Thereafter they’ll don them at Spirit of 76 Friday home games, and again at home games throughout April. Kind of cool: The Sixers aren’t the only NBA team receiving Nike’s City Edition treatment. For instance, the Minnesota Timberwovles will sport City Edition threads that are inspired by Minneapolis’ beloved native son – the late pop icon Prince.

While some have panned the City Edition uniforms, we’re fans of them, if for no other reason than this: They show an interesting creative process at work – a process that seeks to identify the essence of a brand, its audience’s tastes, and then develop branded apparel that embodies core elements of the two. Perhaps promotional products distributors can take inspiration from that.