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University of Hawai’i Unveils “Rainbow Wahine” Uniform Designed by Uni Watch Reader

You’ll recall in July, the University of Hawai’i (UH) and Uni Watch partnered on a contest to design a special edition uniform for the Rainbow Wahine Basketball Program. The winner was to receive a cash prize of $1,500, roundtrip airfare for one to Honolulu and accommodations for the basketball game slated for January 25, where the winning design will be worn and showcased to hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide.

Back in October, after narrowing down the 100+ submissions received here to eight, the University announced the winning design, which was created by Isaac Daggett:

According to UH, this is the nation’s “first ever fan-designed uniform” and will be worn on court this Saturday, when they host “Beeman’s Bigger Bash.”

Here are some looks at Isaac’s uniform:

Beautiful!

Here are a couple close ups of the details:

The team is calling the uniform “sUHrf City,” as Isaac’s design evoked a surfboard motif.

“We are so excited to show off the sUHrf City jerseys on January 25th,” said Coach Laura Beeman. “We had no idea how much attention this fan based design contest would attract. The number of designs submitted only added to the suspense of the winning jersey. The sUHrf city jerseys embrace so much about Hawaii as a state, our aloha and the rich tradition of UH athletics. From the sand color of the fabric to the iconic Shaka on the back to the surfboard down the side, this jersey says it all. Any fan that scores this jersey will have a unique, one of a kind treasure.”

The new uniforms were featured on a Hawai’i News Now broadcast.

These are going to look great on the court. My congrats (again) to Isaac on his winning design.

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I want to also express my thanks for all the efforts of KC Smurthwaite, who put all of this in motion a few years back.

“The concept began as a project a few years ago with Paul while I was working at Southern Utah University,” said KC. “Then COVID hit, and as a department, a lot of things had to be put on the backburner.”

He adds, “The idea always stayed in the back of my mind. I’ve always loved Uni Watch’s design contests — they were such a great source of inspiration and really added fuel to the creative fire.”

Through it all, KC persevered, which led to the Uni Watch/University of Hawai’i partnership last summer and fall. Without his efforts, the design contest would never have happened. Thanks, KC!

I expect to work with KC again this year with another new design contest, so stay tuned!

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Readers? What do you think of the uniforms? Did they do Isaac’s submission justice? (I think they did.) Either way, I’m so pleased Uni Watch was able to play a part in the reader-designed uniform, and hopefully we’ll be able to do this again very soon!

 
  
 
Comments (30)

    Don’t the Grand Rapids Griffins own the claim to “first fan-designed unis?”

    Regardless, incredible work by Isaac, and the team of people who brought Isaac’s fantastic work to life.

    Great job, Isaac! These look even better than the mockup, which was already slick to begin with! If you’re reading these comments, I’m curious what changes you made in collaboration with UH from your design to what is being featured on the court.

    great looking uniform but i don’t understand why the university gave the winner only one roundtrip ticket.

    I didn’t remember this in the design. Love it! So fun to see this project come to fruition. Congrats!!!

    Congrats again Isaac! A modern classic. The rainbow and the arched script Hawaii. Two tremendous trademarks together without overdoing it. And what a triumph for Uni Watch. It’s been a pleasure following it and now seeing the finished product.

    This is so cool! Deserves more than be worn only one time and I feel the men’s team should wear a version of it as well! Congratulations, Isaac!

    They’re excellent. It’s a really tough job to make that rainbow motif understated/proprtionate and using the green text as part of it is a smart way of achieving that.

    Should be the go-to uniforms for the entirety of Hawai’i’s sports program

    That looks even better in reality than it did on the drawing board. Just an absolute triumph! This should be the basis of all UH sports uniforms.

    Loved the contest and all the submissions. The jersey came out great, but looks like something weird is going on with the shorts. Maybe it’s the material? Maybe the lighting? #s 3-4 have some bunching issues and they seem a little transparent.

    I’ve noticed this on several new Women’s hoops unveilings. I don’t think it’s the pants — I think it’s the style (similar to how players would roll up the waistband to “shorten” the inseam length).

    It definitely looks “off” but I just think it’s the way players are styling their uniforms now. I could be wrong, but I don’t think it’s the shorts…just the way the players choose to wear their shorts.

    I was at UH (late ’80s) when the basketball teams were wearing the rainbow colours. I loved them. They look great. Then they changed the uniform color palette to green and black and designed a new H logo. I actually really like the new H logo because it is so Hawaiian and am happy to see it on these new uniforms. Not too keen on the surf board gold color on the side of the uniform. Why not use one of the other from the uniform?

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