Fashion-minded soccer fans are surely well aware of Mitchell & Ness. They're a clothing maker who specialize is "nostalgia" style. You've probably seen a few of their pieces being warn by the likes of Stefan Frei.
While their past offerings have been nice enough, their latest are sure to get some attention, for better or worse. Have a look for yourself:
Yes, that's a Sounders shirt done in a baseball style with Seattle SuperSonics colors. They've also got a matching hat, as well as another that's done up in Seattle Mariners colors.
There's a pretty good chance these will sell reasonably well, and I have no doubt that this appeals to a certain segment of fashion-minded soccer fans. But I'm also not entirely sure it will appeal to Sounders fans (and it's entirely possible we aren't even the target demographic).
As a Sounders fan with no real connection to the Sonics, I'm pretty ambivalent about these. Admittedly, I may not be the best test subject.
In a quick poll of Sounder at Heart contributors, the reaction was very mixed. About half of the 10 or so people I asked, gave brusk a "no" when asked if they'd buy this. A couple others said they'd like to see it in person first. There were a couple others who seemed far more enthusiastic, though.
I'm more curious what hardcore Sonics fans will think of this, though, especially in the current climate. There's no doubt that the Sonics maintain a sizable following, but will this feel like their memory is being co-opted? Is this potentially a bad look, even if the Sounders aren't directly responsible? I honestly don't know. What say you?