Building upon the inspiration behind this season’s ‘Highway Woman Kit’, the Orlando Pride tapped English artist and designer Christian Jeffery to create a one-of-a-kind, hand-painted kit.
For the 2023 season, Orlando Pride unveiled the ‘Highway Woman Kit’, which was influenced by and paid tribute to one of Florida’s iconic female trailblazers in Mary Ann Carroll, a legendary Black artist. The deep purple jersey featured lighter tones of purple to represent brush strokes, but now that link to the artistic world has been elevated through a partnership with English artist and designer Christian Jeffery, who the club recruited to create a one-of-a-kind, hand-painted kit. The floral piece connects the Club to the local art community, a fabric of Orlando’s soccer identity, and further celebrates Carroll’s groundbreaking work.
Inspired by the famed landscape paintings of Mary Ann Carroll, the lone woman amongst the Highwaymen group, and her fascination with the Royal Poinciana tree, Christian Jeffery paid homage to her work by making that the focal point of the project.
“When I was first approached about this project, I was immediately excited because it was for a great cause and there would be so much learning involved: Learning about a new artist, learning about an area, learning about a club, learning how to create a jersey in a new way,” Jeffery said of the commissioned piece. “In articles I read, Mary Ann Caroll had mentioned her passion for the Royal Poinciana tree. She had used it as a subject matter for her paintings and this quickly became the focal point of the project. When you look closely at these trees, they have amazing red flowers and I knew they would truly shine on the Pride jersey.”
Jeffery used fabric paint to apply his design directly to the garment by hand, which took nearly 30 hours to complete.
The commissioned Highway Woman kit marks the second-consecutive season the Pride have celebrated up-and-coming artists and the global DIY, kit culture movement. Last year, the Club worked with Diana Al Shammari (@thefootballgal) on a one-of-one handstitched Luna Kit.
Jeffery’s piece will next take on a new purpose, inspiring children and showcasing artistry at the Orlando Health Winnie Palmer for Women and Babies where it will be donated and permanently displayed.
Christian Jeffery can be found on Instagram at @christianjeffery_projects.
