Warriors unveil unique new uniforms with yellow rose celebrating women’s suffrage

The Warriors are pushing the art form of basketball jerseys with their new women’s suffrage-themed city edition uniform unveiled Thursday and set to be worn in Friday’s home game against the Cavaliers.

Oakland artist Allison Hueman designed the 2022-23 city edition jerseys, which, according to ESPN, earned the approval of Warriors superstar Steph Curry during the process.

The center of the jersey features Art Deco lettering in a nod to Bay Area landmarks, as well as a line-drawn yellow rose. But the eye-catching portion of the design is lower: A photorealistic yellow rose at the base of the jersey, slightly fading as it moves up the abdomen.

The yellow rose is a symbol of the American women’s suffrage movement that culminated just over a century ago in finally allowing women the right to vote. With the directive to create a jersey focused on women’s empowerment, Hueman latched onto the rose, which happened to feature one of the Warriors’ team colors.

“I am so proud that we will use our uniform, one of the most visible assets of this franchise, to empower girls and women around the world,” Warriors chief marketing officer Jen Millet said in a team release.

As for the black base of the jersey, Hueman wanted to create contrast with a color she says is associated with masculinity.

“I try to find opposing elements to balance each other out,” she told ESPN. “I also didn’t want to make something ‘soft’ because not all women are ‘soft.’”

Social media response Thursday has been tepid at best, but new jerseys that aren’t tied to throwback themes often draw ire, and, as Millet pointed out to ESPN, the city edition jerseys only stick around for a single year. Even jerseys with familiar concepts can fall flat: The carefully plotted 2020-21 city editions that read “Oakland” were panned by fans who thought the team was pandering after abandoning the East Bay for San Francisco’s Chase Center.

This season’s rose-focused uniforms are part of the Warriors’ Empowered campaign, which is “a celebration of women at the intersection of court, community and culture in the Bay Area,” according to the team release. The Warriors and jersey sponsor Rakuten have pledged to donate over $25,000 to the Women’s Sports Foundation as part of the campaign.

To see more of Hueman’s work, check out her Instagram account.

You saw it here first @Rakuten || #Empowered pic.twitter.com/sp4aqfX3SW

— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) November 10, 2022