5 hockey jersey looks teams are ordering this season

Hockey teams are ordering next season's jerseys right now, and the designs landing on our cutting table look different from two years ago. Stripes are back, plain bodies are getting a texture, and colour combinations that would have been a hard sell are now the ones teams ask for first. Here are the five looks we keep making, and how to choose between them before you order.

Why hockey jerseys are changing now

Two things are pushing it. Sublimation has made complicated designs cost the same as simple ones, so a team no longer pays extra for a gradient or an all-over texture. And the 2026 Olympic year put classic striped hockey jerseys back on every screen, which reminded a lot of clubs how good a simple stripe looks under arena lights.

Look 1: Heritage stripes

The most requested look this season. A solid body, bold bands across the sleeves and the hem, and a contrasting lace-up collar. It is the oldest hockey design there is, and it has come back because it works: you can tell two teams apart instantly, even in a blur of play.

What has changed is the detail inside the stripe. Teams now ask for three bands instead of one, a stripe colour that matches the collar laces, or a tonal pattern hidden in the body that only shows up close.

Look 2: Gradient fades

A fade from one colour into another, usually darker at the shoulders and lighter towards the hem, or a diagonal sweep across the chest. It gives a sense of speed without adding any extra graphics.

What makes a fade work on the ice

• Two colours, not three. A third colour in a fade usually turns muddy where they meet.
• A solid stripe to finish it. Sleeve and hem bands give the eye a clean edge to land on.
• Space for the number. Keep the lightest part of the fade where the back number goes, so it stays readable.
• Same fade on every size. Ask for youth and adult sizes to be graded separately, so the fade sits in the same place on a small player and a tall one.

Look 3: Texture in the body

This is the quiet trend. From a distance the jersey reads as one solid colour. Up close there is a pattern in it: brushed metal, cracked ice, honeycomb, a perforated dot. It is the easiest way to make a jersey look premium without making it busy.

Solid from the stands, detailed in the hand. Why textured bodies sell

Because sublimation dyes the pattern into the polyester, a texture costs nothing extra to print and does not change how the fabric feels. There is no layer on top, so nothing cracks when the jersey is pulled over pads.