National Basketball Association - Charlotte Bobcats

Charlotte Bobcats Hire Cary Mitchell To Design Uniforms

Charlottean to help design team's uniforms

CRYSTAL DEMPSEY
Staff Writer

Cary Mitchell, a local designer/tailor and favorite among professional athletes, will help create uniforms for the Charlotte Bobcats NBA expansion team.

"They approached me because I'm familiar with uniforms and the people," Mitchell said Thursday. "I've been around the league and know what's all involved."

For more than a decade, Mitchell has been the go-to designer for players such as Houston's Yao Ming, Toronto's Vince Carter, Miami's Alonzo Mourning and former All-Star Charles Barkley. His client list also includes golfer Tiger Woods, baseball player Ken Griffey Jr. and football player Emmitt Smith.

"Cary brings something no team has ever had," said Chris Weiller, Bobcats executive vice president of corporate affairs. "He can get the sense of comfort and performance and fashion that players dig."

The design should be complete this summer and will be unveiled early next year, possibly at the NBA All-Star Game in mid-February, Weiller said.

The Bobcats' first season is 2004-2005.

The home jersey will be white and the road jersey will "most likely be the orange," Weiller said.

Mitchell, who describes his style as "classic conservative," wouldn't drop any hints on the uniform's design.

And the front office didn't give up much either. "We want the design to be unique," Weiller said. "The jersey color will make it unique."

No other NBA team uses orange as its primary color.

Charlotte's first NBA team also tapped a designer for its uniforms. Alexander Julian, an award-winning menswear designer and N.C. native, put the Hornets in distinctive teal and purple pin-striped uniforms.

"There are things that worked for the Hornets that won't work now," Weiller said. "We may go with different fabrics. ... Maybe a different cut or possibly have other garments worn with the uniform."

Mitchell, who is donating part of his consulting fee to local charities, was involved with choosing the color palette of orange, blue, black and silver.

"The league was already saying orange would a hot color," Mitchell says. He polled a few basketball clients -- including the Portland's Damon Stoudamire and Boston's Paul Pierce -- on whether orange would work. "They thought it would be extremely popular," he said.

Mitchell even wore an orange and gray sweatshirt to his first meeting with the Bobcats' brass.

Other players on the franchise's "identity team" are Chicago-based NVU Productions and Reebok.

Crystal Dempsey: (704) 358-5080; cdempsey@charlotteobserver.com.

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