Rawlings Football Compression Protective Apparel

Layered Textiles for Increased Protection

CLIENT: Rawlings

INDUSTRY: Sports

American football protects its players with protective equipment covering key areas of the body that can see hard impacts. The traditional equipment is strapped on, almost floating over the body aimed to deaden a game ending blow. Shifting pads, bad coverage or hard impacts can expose body parts where injury can take you out of the game.

Layering protective gear can keep a player in the game longer. Rawlings came to us to help with designs for two categories of protective apparel worn under traditional protective gear. Priority Designs delivered 2D conceptual design, material exploration, and production support.

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The first product was designed to take multiple smaller hits where quick recovery foam adds a secondary layer of protection. Integrating the foam within textiles creates a performance layer that stays in place, moves with the body, and gives the player more confidence to engage.

The second product was created for hard hits. The individual protective pods are filled with a non-newtonian material that changes its hardness based on the acceleration of the force applied. The protective zones transform and absorb the energy of a hard fast impact.