Toronto designer Sukhdeep Kalsi reworks sports jerseys and other merch into contemporary fashion pieces.Edward Row
Amid the Super Puffs and Canada Goose jackets that usually dominate the winter wardrobes of Canadians, there’s a new must-have piece of outerwear on many sports fans’ radars: a puffer vest made from their favourite athlete’s jersey. These reworks by Toronto designer Sukhdeep Kalsi might feature former Toronto Raptor Vince Carter’s iconic purple dinosaur jersey, or Kobe Bryant’s jersey from the 2009-2010 season, the year he led the Los Angeles Lakers to its 15th NBA championship. Both dedicated and newcomers to Travis Kelce fandom can get in on the fun can even get in on the fun with a vest made from the team flag of the Kansas City Chiefs.
A multidisciplinary artist and designer, Kalsi was inspired by her own love of fashion and sports when she launched her brand, Skalsi, in 2020.
“As someone who grew up as an athlete – and I still am – sportswear has always been significant to me. I was drawn to how people show their team spirit by wearing jerseys to games and wanted to reimagine a unique way to wear them,” she says. “My goal was to take the comfort and functionality of sportswear and elevate it, transforming it into wearable art that’s both stylish and meaningful.”
While her first forays into elevated sportswear were driven by personal interest, she quickly saw the business benefits of working in this space. “When I started reworking sports gear, I noticed a significant shift in my audience. My sales increased by over 70% after I released my first jersey rework,” she says. The collection also ultimately led to opportunities to collaborate with Toronto Raptor Scottie Barnes and Olympic pole vaulter Alysha Newman.
One of Kalsi’s pieces is a puffer vest made from an old Kobe Bryant jersey.Edward Row
She’s not the only designer looking to sports for inspiration. Sports nostalgia is having a moment in fashion. Increasingly, vintage stores like Toronto’s Throwback Vault are specializing in sports apparel, while both the teams themselves and adjacent companies are capitalizing on the desire from sports fans for designs that reference their favourite teams’ histories.
This season, for example, the Toronto Raptors added to their rotation a Classic Edition uniform that pays homage to the franchise’s early days, a move that coincides with Vince Carter’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and the team’s subsequent retirement of his jersey. Meanwhile, Philadelphia-based heritage sports brand Mitchell & Ness is dominating this segment of the market with its licensed, and sometimes exclusive, re-makes of iconic jerseys from years past. Think Jackie Robinson’s Brooklyn Dodgers jersey from 1955, Michael Jordan’s teal jersey from the 1996 NBA All-Star game or Sidney Crosby’s light blue Pittsburgh Penguins jersey from the 2008-2009 season. The company also offers T-shirts, shorts, sweatshirts and hats featuring old logos and merch designs.
There’s a strong business case for leaning into nostalgia this way.
“It’s definitely a way to connect past fans with current fans, and that helps strengthen the bond, the loyalty between consumer and team,” says Michael Naraine, an associate professor in the department of sports management at Brock University. “Sport fandom can be irrational at times, but one of the romantic elements is the ability to connect and stitch generations over time with a shared purpose. In that spirit, retro jerseys unlock that connection and exhibit it to the masses. But there’s a coolness factor to retro apparel to show a level of uniqueness perceived to be unattainable to others or fair-weather fans.”
However, the success of this strategy is not guaranteed. Naraine notes that there has to be something to be nostalgic about if this type of merchandise strategy is going to work. In 2020, the NHL partnered with Adidas to release its first Reverse Retro collection, which featured a nostalgic jersey design for every team in the league. These weren’t necessarily faithful adaptations of previous uniforms. They honoured each team’s past by reviving beloved logos, referencing monumental moments in team history, or nodding to previous locations. When this worked, it really worked.
“Fans of the Hartford Whalers or Quebec Nordiques were able to jump back in and get gear for teams that relocated elsewhere and have new brand marks. Others, like the Edmonton Oilers and their oil drop, or the Pittsburgh Penguins and their robo penguin, were hits,” Naraine says.
But, he says, products for other teams, namely, the Leafs and Senators, were duds. “In the case of the Leafs, nostalgia jerseys don’t truly work because of the team’s lack of [championship] success in the 80s, 90s and 2000s,” he says.
If you ask Kalsi, this makes perfect sense. “Sports jerseys and merchandise are no longer just functional. They’ve become statements of style. People don’t just want to represent their favourite teams, they want to do it in a way that reflects who they are,” she says.
“There’s also an emotional connection at play,” she adds. “Wearing reimagined sports gear is about nostalgia and storytelling. It connects people to memorable moments in sports history or their own personal experiences growing up as fans. When fandom meets fashion, it’s not just about looking good; it’s about wearing a piece of your identity and sharing your story with the world.”
