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We wanted to embrace and reflect Mizuno's Japanese heritage by focusing the design of the kit around the Samurai's suit of armour. Basing the rugby kit around armour helps reinforces the message of rugby player going into battle. The design team studied the armour’s panel configuration/ seam positioning and took inspiration from the armour’s iconic neck line and shoulder feature. Combining the design inspiration with Mizuno's knowledge of the athlete’s body movement and garment construction, we created a unique rugby shirt that incorporates comfort, durability and performance with Japanese heritage.To achieve maximum comfort, body measurement/data where collated from Mizuno professional rugby accounts and fed back into the panel dimensions of the shirt.Weather conditions in Japan are going to vary from wet humid atmosphere to dry and hot, therefore it was vital to develop a fabric that could adapt to the different conditions. We developed a lighter weight poly /spandex fabric with a woven hexagon construction. To combat the wet humid conditions, the main design feature of the shirt is the silicone print on the front panel and back of the playing shorts. Inspired by the construction of the Samurai armour chest plate, the front panel of the rugby shirt has a full body silicone print to enable maximum ball control in wet, humid conditions and assist with removing sweat in hot, dry conditions.
