1992 UW and Northwest Custom Apparel Go to the Rose Bowl
1992 was the first year Northwest Custom Apparel went to the Rose Bowl. Don James was the coach, and the Huskies we co-national champs for 1991. Napoleon Coffman was the big gun in the backfield. The quarterback was Puyallup High School’s Billy Joe Hobert, who won the Washington State Championship in 1987. The Puyallup Viking football team defeated Gonzaga Prep 27-21 in Seattle’s King Bowl. The UW Rosebowl team wore Rose Bowl uniforms with embroidery done by Seattle’s Northwest Custom Apparel.
Unregulated “Loose Licensing” with UW
A University of Washington uniform licensing didn’t mean much in those days. They were just happy to get the product. Northwest Custom Apparel stitched caps, jackets, polo shirts, jerseys, and whatever the fans wanted. Above all, it was a fun run with the Huskies. In the first two Rose Bowls in 1981 and 1982, Seattle had almost zero embroidery capacity to do any serious business. UW Licensing had not yet started to develop.
The 3 Roses Design was #1
The granddaddy of designs was the embroidered big three-rose design we did for the UW uniforms when they traveled to Pasadena in 1993. Furthermore, this was to recognize that the team had gone to the 91, 92, and was going to the 93 Rose Bowl.
Moreover, The Huskies were 12-0 that year. They were rated number 2 in the AP poll. We have attached a copy of that design.
Because licensing was so loose during that period, all we had to have was the blessing of Coach James.
Coach James was a living legend and a great person to work with. Our total licensing fees were some complimentary caps for the coaching staff.
The Rose Bowl Licensing fees are so high it takes a lot of money for Rose Bowl Embroidery.
Northwest Custom Apparel generally gets to do some of the orders for the bowls, but we are not allowed to sell any Rose Bowl-related merchandise. All products have hologram tags attached, and the bowl patrol people can tell precisely who manufactured the merchandise.
Counterfeiting is treated the same way as the people who get caught printing money. Some penalties could mean confiscation of all our printing and embroidery equipment.
