On any given Thursday night in Madison the place to be is usually a packed State Street bar, but that wasn’t the case this week.
Instead, people got in line as early 10 p.m. at the University of Wisconsin Book Store to witness the midnight reveal of UW’s Under Armour-crafted apparel (the first chunk of people to get in the door got free shirts, and a first shot at free food).
The speculation and anticipation has been building ever since the partnership was announced back in October. Would the new threads be more of the same, or perhaps more avant-garde or streetwear-inspired? More importantly: Would they be dope?
As it turns out, this first batch of clothes did not try to push the boundaries of athletic apparel. With the only super-noticeable difference from older clothes being the Under Armour logo.
Playing it safe at first makes sense. These new clothes are sure to appeal to the casual buyer, as the old ones did, whereas more experimental designs could have run the risk of a messy transition, or simply being ugly.
Hopefully, in coming months, after everything has settled, more interesting pieces will be added for more dedicated thread heads. Until then, they’ll have to settle for these tame — but not bad — offerings.
