Behind The Sweater Project: Homefield's Biggest IU Endeavor
Almost daily, Homefield receives vintage apparel requests. Retro mascots we (somehow) missed. Team-issued gear from back in the day. A sweatshirt your aunt wore in college 30 years ago. We get it all, and do our best to work our Homefield Magic.
There’s one item, though, that’s eluded you as fans and challenged us as designers. It is, without a doubt, the most highly requested item in company history; if you're reading this, you probably asked us for it. The dedicated group of fans hitting our replies and inboxes have been as patient, gracious, and undaunted as ever waiting for Homefield to answer the call.
We’re a few final stitches away.
You've been asking, and we've been in the lab perfecting it for longer than you know. Indiana Athletics.
The Sweater Project, as we call it at Homefield HQ, has been years in the making. Before Homefield was even Homefield, the idea of faithfully recreating Lee Corso’s famous Indiana sweater has been top of mind. While everything we do is designed with care and precision, we know just how much this particular sweater means. In other words: if we’re doing it, we’re doing it right.
Serendipitously, as IU fields its best football team yet, we’re so excited to be in the final stages of The Sweater Project. It’s available for preorder until Nov. 1 at 10 a.m., for all of you who’ve believed in what we do and trust us to nail it. Still, we wanted to show you behind the crimson curtain, so you know exactly what you’ll get.
The History
We can’t tell the story of The Sweater Project without a nod to the coach who made it famous. Lee Corso’s 10 years coaching IU football were a showcase of his personality, tenacity, and style– both in coaching and in dress. On the sideline, he was often seen wearing a simple, crimson crewneck with striped cuffs with an arched “INDIANA” across the chest. Paired with equally bright crimson pants, Corso’s presence was unmistakable.
Though Corso would wear the now-famous sweater throughout his coaching tenure at Indiana (and now, most recently, on College GameDay), fans remember the look most fondly during the 1979 season. Corso and the Hoosiers would finish the year with a 7-4 record and a win at the Holiday Bowl, IU’s first-ever bowl win.
Corso in the sweater that started it all, circa 1975. MVictors Archive.
The Project
We studied every photo of Lee Corso in the sweater that we could get our hands on, ensuring we stayed as true to his original look as possible. You’ll notice some small, modern adjustments to help your sweater stand the test of time, such as a lower neckline to ensure the tri-stripe ribbing doesn’t warp or stretch like a mock neck of that era is prone to do.
For the fabric, we opted for a new, heavier crewneck fabric that closely resembles Corso’s original. It adds a bit of the heft you appreciate in vintage fleece, without sacrificing the comfort we’ve built our brand on. The ribbed cuffs are patterned after Corso’s for near-pinpoint accuracy, and the color is a classic IU crimson. And, of course, the double-layer twill appliqué “INDIANA” is the star of the show, down to precise letter spacing– your sweater will have texture and depth as close to the real thing as you can get.
Reserve Yours
From now until Friday, Nov. 1 at 10 a.m. ET, you can stake your claim in The Sweater Project. We’ll be updating you as we progress on the project, which we anticipate should be complete this winter.
For IU fans and friends out there, we all know this fandom is built on belief. Now, we hope you'll believe in The Sweater Project as a bridge between Indiana football’s past and present.
