LA SWEAT
Founded in 2015 by Kelli Samuelson, I had the opportunity to design team uniforms, apparel and swag for the La Sweat cycling team from 2015-2021. This included full kit/uniform design, website refresh, messaging and iconography.
Each year reinvented the team aesthetic and designed a unique uniform for the riders that blended sport with fashion, culture and trends to prove it is possible to be feminine and strong as hell.
Below is a look back at each year's design.
YEAR 1: 2015
We worked with artist Yoko Honda to create a 90's pattern to be used on the jersey and shorts.
The skinsuit designed used a diagnol grid pattern, manipulated Cinelli logo and Honda's print.
YEAR 2: 2016
Moving away from the 90's workout vibe I wanted to design a kit that was sporty but elegant. Think cycling meets Beverly Hills. It was an effort to prove that "you can be feminine and strong as hell." Which became the team motto. I commissioned Alex Ostroy to work his illustrating magic to make a kit inspired by Chanel, Versace and Pucci.
YEAR 3: 2017
Switching back to sporty, the inspiration for 2017's kit is blatant. It's a throwback to FILA with an overtly feminine flair. I personally designed this kit and worked tightly with Castelli to make sure the design would work seamlessly in their complex patterns.
YEAR 4: 2018
My mild obsession with high-end sportswear collided with the looming 2020 Tokyo Olympics when designing the 2018 kit. In this kit I used the beautiful aesthetic of the Japanese language to write La Sweat Cycling in the katakana alphabet.
ラ・スウェット サイクリング translates to La Sweat Cycling. English and Japanese are used interchangeably throughout the kit with ghosted type. Neon and light blue are used to make sure the riders are highly visible both when riding and when standing on the podium.
YEAR 5: 2019
Motorsports. Formula 1. The 70s. The now. The ₦€₩ KI₮ I$ M0₦€¥. That’s the inspiration for year 5. This kit used the color of the year, and threw back to the heyday of speed racing. Repeated type, checkered flags, patches. This kit is money, so much that I wrote the team name in money: £A $₩€Å₮
YEAR 6: 2020
This was one of my favorite aesthetics to bring to life. While it stayed very close to it’s source material, Ralph Lauren Snow Beach and the Ralph Lauren’s U.S. Open look, it made me smile to see this idea of #highclasssports in cycling — another ridiculously priced sport. Unfortunately this look debuted in 2020, which also debuted no live racing. So it mostly sat on trainers and in the world of Zwift.
YEAR 7: 2021
With racing back on and the world open we repurposed the clean Ralph Lauren vibe of 2022 in this optimistic rainbow kit that channeled a bit of Polo Sport. It was a refreshing burst of color in the peloton.
