ISL 2020-21: SC East Bengal reveal official kits for new season

The Red and Gold partnered with the exceptionally talented Meghna Nayak, a young designer from Bengal who is a pioneer of sustainable design and someone who has passionately advocated for keeping things local. 

SC East Bengal on Monday launched their home, away and third kit for the 2020-21 Hero Indian Super League (ISL) season.

The club management partnered with the exceptionally talented Meghna Nayak, a young designer from Bengal who is a pioneer of sustainable design and someone who has passionately advocated for keeping things local. 

An environment-conscious designer,  Nayak is an original thinker who has taken Bengal's creativity to the world and been exhibited in Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and all over India with her brand LataSita.

https://twitter.com/sc_eastbengal/status/1323234555277398021

While the club received numerous submissions, it was looking for a designer to present concepts that were completely original. Nayak’s concepts for SC East Bengal, inspired by the Flame, the ‘Ilish’ or Hilsa fish, and the Royal Bengal Tiger of the Sunderbans instantly appealed to the club.

“The jerseys look amazing. The bright red and gold home kit has traditionally been synonymous with the club and with the flaming torch adding to the firepower. Our away and third kits also have a lot of tradition ingrained in them which makes it even more special,” SC East Bengal head coach Robbie Fowler said.

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“I am in love with the home kit already. I think it has positive energy to it and looks good too. I can’t wait to don the shirt and take the field,” said Anthony Pilkington.

“The jerseys ooze a sense of pride. I am absolutely thrilled to be wearing them and I believe the fans will love them too. We want the legacy of the club to always be with us and these shirts have that,” added Danny Fox.

“It is every footballer’s dream to don SC East Bengal colours and I am delighted to be able to do that. The jerseys look nice and well designed. They fit well too and are comfortable,” Jeje Lalpekhlua further said.

Home Kit:

The Home kit is a stylised version of the very flame in the club logo. The rendition in red and yellow continues to signal the dynamism and firepower of the team but adapting it to new design sensibilities. “It had to be simple, iconic, and distinctly recognizable from afar.” said Nayak. 

Away Kit:

The Away kit in blue and white is a cheeky nod to the Ilish or Hilsa fish that is inextricably associated with families that famously feast on Hilsa after an East Bengal win. The design can be interpreted as fish scales, armour or water to depict the waters that flow between and forever connect East and West Bengal, and provide life and livelihood to its people. Most importantly, these very rivers, our lifeline, are over-polluted and cleaning the rivers and water bodies that sustain us is the need of the hour,” Nayak said.

Third Kit:

The third kit had to be something different, and the inspiration was the Bengal Tiger. “What better symbol to invoke than the fierceness of the beast indistinguishably associated with Bengal,” said Nayak. The pride, energy and power that the Tiger invokes, the uniqueness of its home - the Sunderbans, which protect our region from all sorts of environmental impacts and provide livelihoods to millions of people, was the perfect symbol for our third jersey.