On Aug. 16, the Seattle Sounders will be unveiling their exclusive Pride Collection at the Pro Shop as the team celebrates the LGBTQ+ community at Lumen Field.
Designed by local artist, muralist, & illustrator Esmeralda Vasquez, the collection features a scarf and a t-shirt, symbolizing queer pride, growth, resilience, and inclusivity through its colors, shapes, and word usage.
“I feel like there's a lot of ways to represent the queer community through artwork, and a lot of what we've seen before has just been very heavily like rainbows and like a bunch of colors and kind of like the same icons and imagery,” said Vasquez. “But I just feel like there's not one lens to view the queer community, and so for me, I have a lot of like vines and flora and like funky shapes and colors, but specifically color combos are what I specialize in with my work and symbolism.”
She utilized those design pairings to represent more of a message. Rather than having a rainbow, Vasquez focused on the bisexual and trans flowers in the collection with the addition of “Grow Together” on both the t-shirt and the scarf.
“I just wanted to make sure that the design was palatable, but in a way that still represented this very deep connection to those communities specifically.”
Vasquez’s design also includes green circles on the T-shirt with the phrases “Be You” and “Be Free,” to showcase a “safe space,” as well as a carabiner on the front with a soccer ball, a Sounders emblem, an additional flower, and a beaded Seattle chain.
“These little details, it's just a callback,” said Vasquez. “It's just like these little Easter eggs, kind of. I had a lot of fun designing this and bringing all these little details together.”
Pride is more of a way of being for Vasquez, not one concrete version of yourself. When she started really thinking about this collection and what she wanted to say with it and how she wanted people to receive it, the “Grow Together” statement was the leading force, along with the two flowers. She expressed that some of the same imagery that she’s been going back to with her work has been gradients, color symbolism, vines, and leaves, feeling like growth and resilience has always been the two strongest messages that she wanted to carry.
“For Pride, trying to tie that into each other, it's more like this ever-evolving way of being, truly, and I have this very prominent passion in my life, which is art and what I want to do with it. And I think that's different for everyone, and it can always change,” said Vasquez. “It's more of just like this very open-minded way of approaching everything that you do in your life, and it's very sacred and valuable.
“And so, I just wanted something to be a beautiful statement of that.”
Only available at the Pro Shop, fans can purchase this meaningful collection on Sunday while supplies last. A portion of proceeds from the pieces will support Sounders and RAVE Foundation’s work and partners in the LGTBQ+ community.
Upon seeing the collection, Vasquez’s hope is that fans not only feel excited about the design, but recognized, “even if it’s in a very subtle way.”
“I just want them to feel empowered when they see [it], and you know, get excited to wear it and know that they're representing a piece of that message as well.”
