Justin Jefferson described the icy combination with a tongue-in-cheek phrase.

“It’s fire,” a smiling Jefferson declared. It’s stunning. Naturally, the purple and gray are all white, giving them a tidy appearance.

But as you can see, it’s a shady game. We therefore intend to get their jerseys a little unclean,” he chuckled. “It’s really gorgeous, the matte white helmet with the gray strip. It is ablaze.”

Winter Warrior picture shoot participants were Jefferson, Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, C.J. Ham, Christian Darrisaw, Brian O’Neill, Aaron Jones, Byron Murphy, Jr., Harrison Smith, Camryn Bynum, Josh Metellus, Jonathan Greenard, Harrison Phillips, and Ivan Pace, Jr.

He exclaimed, “Goodness gracious,” as soon as he saw the uniform on a mannequin set against an Arctic-themed photo scene. “These had to be liked by our fans, right? They’re really tasty. The metallic is my favorite. White headgear? I adore it.

“Where’s my own? The coach’s entire white warm-up jumpsuit is missing. O’Connell made a joke.

Winter Warrior’s release completes a design process that began over two years ago with Jackie Ramacher, the Vikings’ art manager, creating preliminary drawings. In 2022, the Vikings unveiled their “Winter Whiteout” outfits, which served as a kind of market research on the ultimate objective of dressing entirely in white.

“We wanted to know if individuals would be comfortable dressing entirely in white. What would happen? “We knew, ‘OK, we really want to embrace this and use this direction for our new alternate uniforms,'” Vikings Creative Director Alicia Dreyer said. “Our fans loved it.” “We appreciate people’s patience as we work to build the new clothes and helmets, since some of the biggest comments we received during our Winter Whiteout was wanting to see an all-white helmet.

“This has always been in the works, and we’re really proud of what makes it unique,” said Dreyer.

Inside the Design Process: Vikings “Winter Warrior” Alternate Uniforms and First-Time Player Reactions

The Vikings Classic will use Winter Warrior as one of Minnesota’s two official NFL alternative outfits.

“We are one of 32 teams, we can all create alternate jerseys, and other teams do have white jerseys,” conceded Dreyer. “So we wanted to create something that we could uniquely own, and that was solely the Minnesota Vikings.”

The cold color scheme and little deviation from the conventional jersey’s numbers are only two of the design aspects that draw inspiration from both the Northern environment and ancient Viking culture for the Winter Warrior outfits.

“We have taken away all warmth by taking out the gold from the uniform,” Ramacher said. “Metallic gray has not only replaced it, but also emerged as the main attraction. It’s a tribute to ice and the armor of the Vikings of old. The numerals have ‘dripping icicle’ accents, which add a distinctive twist to the SKOL font’s current serifs, further elaborating on the ice concept. In order to simulate the appearance of ice drops, we turned a similar curved shape from our initial number set downward and added a metallic gray outline.”

Another distinctive feature of the helmet is a brand-new finish that was created in close coordination with Riddell, the NFL, and the Vikings. In place of the riveted metal strips found on early war helmets, a metallic stripe was placed to the center of the helmet.

“The ancient Vikings were innovative, creating new technologies for armor and weapons,” added Dreyer. “The goal with new uniforms was to incorporate new techniques and finishes, which also includes the matte, metallic gray of the pant stripe.”

In addition to embracing the bitter cold, the Vikings design team pondered itself how to best represent the concept of a “modern Viking.”

It was also crucial to adhere to NFL regulations, which state that a team is not permitted to add a new color to its current scheme.

Because the team’s original jerseys and The Vikings Classic alternative employ a gray facemask, metallic gray might be incorporated into the new Winter Warrior costume. The Vikings have traditionally worn a combination of purple, gold, and white on their uniforms.

Two other details are the Nordic knot design embroidered on the back neckline and the VIKINGS wordmark on the chest of the jersey, which is written in SKOL typeface and is a pivot from the original Vikings script that has historically been employed.

In 2016, an early Nordic pattern was put to the inside neckline; however, Dreyer and Ramacher desired greater visibility for the intricacy for their fan base. Three shields in the updated knot design pay homage to O’Connell’s catchphrase, “Our Way. Our Team. Our Process.”

“It’s just been a really amazing process working the past two years with the NFL and Nike,” Dreyer stated. It’s amazing and satisfying to finally see it come to pass. It’s incredible to get from that first PDF, which only had ideas about ice and playing with various materials and finishes, to really being able to display this to our fans and have them wear it for [a future] game. It’s amazing to share this white helmet with everyone because I know people have been pleading for it.”

With an eye on 2024 and beyond, she is excited to watch how Winter Warrior contributes to the Vikings’ illustrious history.

“Like Viking warriors, Minnesotans are battled tested, resilient and tough,” Ramacher stated. Our severe, frigid winters not only unite us, but we also rise to any hardships that face us. We adjust and triumph while keeping our objective in mind at all times. These outfits are a true tribute to Nordic Viking and Minnesotan culture.”