Three unique Mercury uniforms – the Heroine, Explorer and Rebel editions – will debut in 2021
Twenty-five seasons deserves three new uniforms, and today the Phoenix Mercury, the WNBA, and Nike unveiled the H.E.R. Uniform System, which will debut this summer for the league’s silver season. Gone are the identical uniform chassis and designs. In their place, three unique pieces of wearable storytelling, developed by Nike in partnership with the WNBA and its teams – the Heroine, Explorer and Rebel editions, each with their own background and elements.
The designs, unveiled this morning after years of development, tell the story of the Mercury, one of the league’s original franchises in 1997. The Heroine edition showcases the team’s history; in the Explorer, the focus is home and The Valley; the Rebel is dedicated to the Mercury’s fans, nicknamed the “X-Factor” by original coach Cheryl Miller. All three uniforms feature the return of team branding to the chest; the Mercury’s new marquee partner Fry’s Food Stores is on the abdomen; PayPal, which debuted in 2019 as the team’s badge partner, remains on the left shoulder; logos for Nike and the WNBA’s 25th Season are on the right shoulder.
“We are continuing to see investment and engagement in women’s sports from major stakeholders, and today and throughout this process Nike demonstrated that their support is second to none. These are not just new uniforms, they’re the stories of our players, our fans, and the journey of an original franchise to 25 seasons. We think our fans will love these, not just because they look incredible, but because of how intentional the design is to the team they love.”
– Mercury Chief Operating Officer Vince Kozar
NIKE, Inc., Vice President of North America League Partnerships Sonja Henning: “This is the most comprehensive WNBA apparel offering in history. In such an empowering time for women’s basketball, Nike will deliver more innovations and storytelling for the players and bring more fans closer to the game.”
Under Nike’s new H.E.R uniform system, the new SP21 uniforms by Nike were specifically engineered for female athletes, with new material, necklines and silhouettes to fit each player. Each of the Mercury’s three jerseys were created to capture elements found only in Phoenix to continue the storytelling of the Mercury, its players and the league as a whole.
Heroine Edition: The design of the Mercury’s Heroine uniform is an update of the original Mercury white jersey, including—in our 25th season—the original script “Mercury” across the chest. The white color, historically a symbol of the women’s movement and suffrage, plus the angled short design are an homage to the ‘90s generation of Phoenix Suns basketball and their leadership who showed up for women, giving the Mercury a home in The Valley. And giving generations of girls and women a team of heroines to inspire them.
Explorer Edition: Phoenix’s Explorer uniform is a combination of the team’s core colors, purple and orange. It’s the first and only gradient uniform in the league, representing our home in The Valley, the only place skies and sunsets like this exist. The short design for the Explorer, like the Heroine, is a nod to our founding as one of the original WNBA teams in 1997. The Valley gave us a home and has supported us since Day 1 of the league, 25 seasons ago.
Rebel Edition: The Mercury’s Rebel uniform is the only uniform in sports dedicated specifically to a fan base and it’s for the X-Factor, our Day 1s, the lifeblood of an original franchise of this start-up, progressive league. And though the uniform is completely unique in its theme, the Mercury join the #AllAZ family with the Suns, Cardinals, Diamondbacks and Coyotes to wear black while repping The Valley.
The Explorer and Rebel edition jerseys will be available to purchase at the Mercury’s Team Shop via shop.mercury.com and at Phoenix Suns Arena later this month.
Today the team debuted a three-piece mini merchandise collection inspired by the uniforms. That collection is available right now and can be found HERE.