Harlequins have been doing the charity jersey thing for a long time now – they were one of the first teams to embrace the concept, which has gone hand in hand with the club’s ‘Big Game’ event, which is now into its 11th year.
For 2018, however, the club might well have come up with its most innovative and different Big Game shirt yet, which Adidas has dubbed ‘Quintessential Flash’.
Yes, firstly, the name is rather silly – but the concept is, at the very least, quite intriguing one for us jersey-aficionado types
The above image is a pretty fair reflection of what the jersey looks like normally – it’s a black base shirt (as is Big Game tradition) with blue and red sleeve accents, with the badges, stripes and a striking hatched pinstripe pattern all rendered in what looks like a metallic dark grey colour.
That is, at least, until you apply some bright light to proceedings, because grey bits are all made of what Adidas is calling ‘flash-activated colour reflective technology’ – which in English appears to be a similar material to the reflective, light-catching fabrics you often see in running and cycling gear.
The idea is that when Quins play Wasps at Twickenham on the evening of December 29, the flashbulbs and floodlights of the stadium will trigger the aforementioned colour-reflective technology lighting up the jerseys with a rainbow of different colours, as above.
The concept is inspired by London, specifically the neon and bright lights of the city at night, but the multi-coloured nature of the way the light catches is also possibly a nod to the multi-coloured Quins home shirt.
We’ll be honest, we’re absolute suckers for clubs doing something a little bit bold, different and unusual with their jersey designs, and ‘Quintessential Flash’ most certainly is that.
We’re not entirely convinced that the concept will exactly go as intended under the floodlights of Twickenham in practice, but with the game kicking off around sunset, we’re hopeful that they at least kill the floodlights and do something to really show the clever way these shirts have been engineered before the game – we’re excited to see them on the field.
Rugby Shirt Watch 