Spring is a magical time in Washington, D.C.. Residents emerge from their winter hiding spaces to take walks or ride bikes down the District’s tree-lined streets, soaking up the sunshine as they enjoy the springtime thaw. And for a couple of weeks in late March or early April, there’s more than just hope in the air —the breeze throughout the District carries the pink and white petals of the city’s iconic cherry blossoms with it, covering sidewalks and lawns with a snow-like blanket.
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To D.C. residents at large, it’s a welcome sign that spring has sprung, that the grey days of winter are behind them. If you’re a D.C. United fan, though, that warm, fuzzy feeling might be accompanied by a pang of lament.
“Oh, what could’ve been,” you might say, “if the club had just made those cherry blossom kits.”
Ah yes, the cherry blossom kit, that discarded concept from the club’s 2019 design cycle, the one that got away. An all-pink shirt with the floral accents, or a white shirt with pink shorts, bedecked with cherry blossom petals along the sleeves and shoulders.
“That kit would’ve been a license to print money,” you’ll probably say to yourself as the petals swirl around you, only slightly dampening your sadness. “Why can’t they just make the damn thing.”
Well, cheer up, folks. According to multiple sources familiar with the club’s design process, United are tentatively planning to produce a cherry blossom kit in 2023.
That decision, one source said, was largely driven by the response of the club’s supporters and fans after the nixed plans were revealed —that clamouring has only grown louder in the the year-and-a-half or so that have followed. By all accounts, the club is listening to their fanbase on this one.
In that respect, 2021 may be the start of a trend. Multiple sources at the club said United has been encouraged by the early sales numbers of this year’s “marble” away kit, and that there is a feeling within the organization that there is much unfulfilled potential with regard to jersey designs – and the potential income that sales of those jerseys would generate.
In lesser ways, United has already started incorporating cherry blossoms into their merchandise. In recent years they’ve produced cherry blossom scarves; just last week they lit their entire stadium up in pink in celebration of the District’s cherry blossom festival. Social media posts announcing these tie-ins are predictably littered with comments from fans encouraging the club to just make the kit already.
Lighting @AudiField pink to celebrate peak bloom and the National Cherry Blossom Festival 🌸#DCU x @CherryBlossFest pic.twitter.com/dOZLQNhDdp
— D.C. United (@dcunited) April 10, 2021
If only it were that simple. It’s difficult for the team to respond quickly to demand for such a kit to exist, given the 18-month design cycle that Adidas holds every MLS club to. Some at the club, one source said on Monday, would like to see United push the manufacturer to allow them to incorporate a cherry blossom kit into their 2022 plans. That seems highly unlikely — a source familiar with the process described that possibility as being “an uphill battle that would probably prove impossible.”
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There are some at the club, sources familiar with the situation said on Monday, who also suspect that United might get beaten by the punch, so to speak, by the NWSL’s Washington Spirit. NWSL clubs have more flexibility when it comes to their own design cycles —next year’s kits, for example, are due on June 1st of this year, making for a design window that allows any given NWSL club to be a bit more current with their designs.
If United really are concerned, there may be a good reason for that. A source familiar with the Spirit’s plans says that yes, the club has indeed considered producing its own cherry blossom kits. It’s easy to imagine what they might look like after seeing Racing Louisville’s inaugural kits, which included jaw-droppingly gorgeous shirts covered with lily flowers. Cherry blossoms seem like an even more natural fit.
It’s possible, of course, that Adidas goes in a different direction. Recent MLS kits have been plain numbers attached to any number of concepts —unity, community, etc.. There’s rarely any obvious trace of the concept itself in the final design. It’s within the realm of imagination that the manufacturer could take United’s request for a cherry blossom kit and return something that’s only tangentially related to the flower itself —a white top with pink accents, for example. Or maybe just a plain white number with one single cherry blossom petal on the neck tape.
Regardless, the wheels are in motion for something to happen.
(Photo: MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)
