Houston Rockets Jeff Hamilton ‘Hometown Heroes’ jackets debut

When world-famous fashion designer Jeff Hamilton came to Houston earlier this year for the 2023 Final Four, he apparently caught the H-Town hoops bug, reaching out to the Rockets about creating a jacket for the 2023-24 season.

“We just kept in touch with him all summer, and we kept saying to him, ‘We really want to do this. We really want to do this. We really want to do this.’ Then he sent us the art and we were like, ‘Oh, we’re really going to do this,'” Rockets senior director of retail operations Kara Infante said.

On Friday, they did. The Rockets-Jeff Hamilton collaboration jackets dropped at the Toyota Center team store, with Hamilton on hand for the release. Only 89 of the off-white leather jackets with red lettering and blue accents were made. The jacket, which went for $500, sold out during that night’s game.

Hamilton also autographed the jackets and a mini-poster for each fan who bought one. “I’m very, very proud of it,” he said of his creation. “It’s a hit for me.”

Hamilton, who sees his work as art as much as clothing, has had his share of basketball-themed hits. Michael Jordan wore a Hamilton jacket after each of his NBA Finals victories. Kobe Bryant wore a Hamilton jacket in the locker-room showers after winning the 2001 NBA Finals, making for one of the most iconic photos in modern NBA history. The NBA commissioned Hamilton to design jackers for members of the league’s 50th and 75th anniversary teams, too.

With the Rockets, Hamilton wanted to capture the essence of the franchise. He noted the back-to-back NBA titles in the 1990s and the numerous legendary Houston players as part of the Rockets’ mystique. 

“We want to be able to have a jacket you can wear as a fashion item,” Hamilton said. “We want to make a statement.”

He grew up in France, where he was “obsessed” with NASA and the moon landing. That childhood connection, along with his friendships with former Rockets players he’s made over the last few decades, made this an exciting project for him, he said.

The jacket is based on the team’s “Hometown Heroes” concept introduced this year. That concept invokes the Phi Slama Jama basketball era at the University of Houston.

Hamilton’s design features a large block “H” on the left breast and “Houston” spelled out vertically on the opposite side. One sleeve features the numbers 22 and 34 in honor of Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon, respectively. The other sleeve features the Rockets alternate “R” logo and Hamilton’s logo.

The back has “H-Town” written in script right above “Dunkstronaut” — Houston’s new fan-favorite logo of an astronaut dunking a basketball.

“He really took every element of our Hometown Heroes city jersey and incorporated it into the jacket,” Infante said. “He did not miss a single thing. He hit the collegiate font. He hit the player numbers. The patch on the inside is really creative and personal.”

“The fact that he stuck around and signed these for us makes it that much bigger of a deal,” said DJ Palmo, the Rockets’ in-arena DJ who bought a jacket Friday.

The team has more fashion collaborations coming later this year. And Infante said she hopes the team can collaborate with Hamilton again in the future.

“We’re already talking to him about what’s the next thing and what else can we do,” Infante said. “Not this year, but like building on a bigger thing forward.”