CeraVe is known for skincare developed with dermatologists: clean, calm and exact. When the brand took to the basketball court, it wanted a kit that carried the same character. This is the story of how we shaped it together.
A jersey is a brand surface that moves
Most branded apparel sits still. A poster stays on the wall, a tote hangs from a shoulder. A basketball jersey sprints, twists, gets photographed mid-air and ends up in someone's highlight reel. Whatever is on it has to hold up at full speed.
That changes how a jersey should be made. Colour that lives in the fibre instead of sitting on top of it. Logos placed where they read at a glance, from the stands and in a photo. Piping that frames the body and makes a group of players look like a team. When those decisions are right, nobody notices them. When they are wrong, everybody does.
For a brand like CeraVe, known for skincare developed with dermatologists, the standard is the one it holds its own products to: clean, consistent and exactly as specified.
What does a skincare brand look like at full sprint?
It started with a simple question: what does a skincare brand look like at full sprint? CeraVe wanted two looks, a home kit and an away kit, that felt unmistakably like the brand and still worked as sports uniforms.
We began where every collaboration begins, by listening. What does the brand stand for, where will people see it, and what should they feel when they do?
One frame, two colours, one calm look
From that conversation we built the look around one frame. Royal blue with white piping for home, white with royal blue piping for away. Same cut, same fabric, same piping lines, so the two sets read as one team across the court.
The CeraVe mark came first. We worked on two versions of it and on where each sits, on the chest, where it reads at a glance from the stands and in a photo. We advised on what holds up at full speed: colour built into the fabric by sublimation, and logos, names and numbers applied as heat transfers that stay crisp. Mockups let both sides see the kit before it was made.
The details that carry the brand
The choices behind the look: what it is made of, how the colour goes on and where the brand sits.
- 01Garments
- Sleeveless basketball jersey and basketball shorts
- 02Fabric
- Polyester performance knit
- 03Colour and piping
- Full sublimation
- 04Logos, name and number
- DTF heat transfers
- 05Placement
- Chest
Two kits, one story
The result is a pair of kits that feel like two chapters of one story. The blue home jersey and the white away jersey share one silhouette, one set of piping lines and one careful placement of the CeraVe mark, so the brand is recognisable whichever colour takes the court.
Brand Takeaways
1.How does a calm, clinical brand look on a fast game?
By keeping its character at full speed. CeraVe's clean, exact feel carries through a simple frame, one colour at a time, with the logo placed where it reads at a glance. Calm does not mean quiet. It means every choice is deliberate, so nothing on the kit is there by accident.
2.How can home and away kits feel like one team?
Share the cut, the fabric and the piping lines, and change only the colour. Royal blue with white piping for home and white with royal blue piping for away read as two chapters of one story, so a crowd recognises the team in either colour.
3.Why does logo placement matter more than logo size?
A logo on the chest is seen from the stands, on a screen and in photos taken mid-game. Where it sits, how clear the space around it is and how clean the finish looks decide whether people remember it. A bigger logo in the wrong place reads as louder, not stronger.
4.What should a brand decide before choosing kit colours?
How it wants people to feel. Write down two or three words first, such as calm, precise and trusted, then choose colours, cut and detail that match them. A kit built from a feeling holds together far better than one built from a colour swatch.
5.Why use sublimation for team jerseys?
Sublimation puts the colour into the fabric fibres instead of on top of it. Nothing can crack, peel or fade at the edges, the fabric keeps its stretch and breathability, and large areas of colour and piping stay even after many washes. That is why it suits a jersey that moves hard.
6.When should a logo, name or number be a heat transfer instead?
Use a heat transfer for anything that changes from player to player or needs a crisp, raised edge, such as names, numbers and a second version of a logo. It lets each jersey carry its own details while the colour and piping stay consistent across the whole kit.
7.What fabric works best for basketball jerseys?
A polyester performance knit. It stretches with the player, lets heat and moisture out, dries quickly and takes sublimated colour cleanly. For CeraVe the same knit was used for the home and away sets, so the two colours behave and feel the same on court.
8.Can a brand use more than one version of its logo on a kit?
Yes, and it often helps. A full logo can sit on the chest while a simpler version works where space is tight. The key is to give each version one clear job and keep its spacing and colours exactly as the brand defines them, so the kit still reads as one identity.
9.What is piping and why does it matter on a kit?
Piping is the contrasting line along the edges of the jersey and shorts. It frames the body, gives the kit its shape from a distance and ties the home and away colours together. In this kit, white piping on blue and blue piping on white did most of that work.
brand identity on sportswear · team kit design · colour and piping · sublimation printing · logo placement · home and away kits · StitchMark Uniform brand partner
CeraVe is a StitchMark Uniform brand partner. This story was produced for the StitchMark Uniform case studies hub: inspiration for brands.
Client: CeraVe. Made by: StitchMark Uniform. Fabric: Polyester performance knit. Decoration: Sublimation and DTF heat transfers.
