All Blacks' Rugby Shirts Reveal Rainbows for Diversity

All Blacks sponsor, AIG Japan, has signalled its support for gay rights in Japan with a subtle tweak to the New Zealand rugby team's kit.

As part of its 'Diversity is Strength' campaign, created by TBWAHakuhodo to promote the Rugby World Cup 2019, the insurance brand has unveiled a limited-edition black shirt which reveals the colours of the rainbow when the fabric is stretched. Sort of like those Hypercolor T-shirts, but much cooler - and for a good cause.

Dubbed the ‘United Black Fabric’, the shirts' changeable appearance was created by using ribbed material and painting the rainbow stripes on both sides – which ‘dyes’ the fabric in these hues. Black dye was then printed on both sides of the fabric, but only on the outer part of every rib surface. “The result is a fabric that maintains its black appearance when at rest, but when stretched, reveals the deeper grooved portions of each rib and the colours underneath,” the agency explained in a statement.

The new kit was launched with a promotional film [below] featuring the Black Ferns (the New Zealand womenʼs national rugby team), alongside the All Blacks.

In a country where same-sex marriage remains unrecognised, it's a strong but subtle message of support for LGBT rights, couched within a wider message of diversity.

“Building on the success of our #TackleTheRisk film last year, we really wanted to work with TBWA/Hakuhodo and the All Blacks again to tackle the bigger social issues in Japan – starting with diversity,” said Matthew Walker, regional chief marketing officer at AIG Japan. “Our creative challenge to TBWA/Hakuhodo was how do we combine AIG, the All Blacks/Black Ferns and diversity in a relevant and impactful way that reflected our common values and aspirations? From TBWA/Hakuhodo’s initial organising idea of ‘If you combine all colours of the rainbow, you get black’ through to their fabric innovation and film integration to achieve that promise, we knew it was a big idea.”

Sadly for those hoping to get their hands on the shirts, they aren't on sale to the public, although 200 will be distributed at random via a Twitter competition to users (Japan only) who follow @AIG_Sonpo and tweet ‘United Black T-shirt’.