Franco Égalité talks Black History Night jerseys

MONTREAL -- Designing elements of the Black History Night warmup jersey was a labor of love for
Franco Égalité
.

A visual artist living and working in Montreal, Égalité was "truly honored" to receive such a unique assignment from his hometown team.
The renowned illustrator and muralist's previous credits include Hennessy, Nike, Facebook, Chrome Books, DC Entertainment, Silk, Nickelodeon, Searchlight Pictures UK, Hachette Livres, Splice, Indigo Books, Reader's Digest, Ballets Jazz Montréal and Osheaga.
The jerseys are already up for auction at
black.bidandraise.com
, and online bidding will run through 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Here are several highlights from our chat with Égalité:
How did you develop the concept for the imagery?
It was the product of many different conversations. I'm a first-generation Canadian and I really wanted to create images that were symbolic to the whole Haitian community, so I spoke with my mother, my grandmother, my brother, and other friends from Haiti to gather as much information as possible. We talked about history. During those conversations, one friend showed me some photos of her mother wearing traditional Haitian clothing, and you quickly realize that you need to showcase more than just blue and red - the emblematic colors of Haiti and the Canadiens - green, yellow and white must be prominent, too. You need festive colors. Originally, my only frame of reference was traditional paintings, so when my friend showed me those pictures, the connection with colors and embroidery was a lot easier to see. I pieced the concept together from those talks. It's really a mix of key words and key images. Everything I do is always a product of conversations.

What was your inspiration for the designs?
The main inspiration was: 'Let me show the idea of being Black and being Haitian in Montreal, in Canada.' I already had the Canadiens crest to work with, so people would already understand the Montreal element since it's so emblematic. I just needed to add those profiles of Black faces to the crest. That would be a step forward to showing the link between the two worlds. Then came the flowers, a poetic emblem. They're the intermingling between the characters. Flowers represent growth, burgeoning and hope. Showing that link through the flowers, that kind of poetry, and the aspect of community through the profiles, I knew the connection would be immediate. I wanted to show colors, flowers and community through black faces and black features. I wanted to make all the faces really show that togetherness by making them really similar to one another, so it was easier to see them as a group more than an individual. I want people to think about community. As for the colors, they're all the main colors associated with anything festive or celebratory in Haiti. Even in my house or my mother's house, we have traditional paintings with blue, yellow, green, red and white. For Haitian people, when you see those colors together with black faces, it's Haiti and it's the Caribbean. The connection is so easy to make for people who have those references.

What's the meaning behind the shoulder patch?
It's the hibiscus flower moving and growing through the profile of a female, and there's kind of this vortex feeling with the profile repeating itself within the main silhouette. The symbolism is really about introspection, really thinking about the individual growing in Montreal and Canada. As a newcomer, it's really a process of growth. You need to grow to establish yourself in another country. All that learning just makes you bigger, makes you stronger, makes you more adaptable, and just makes you a better person overall. With my family having gone through immigration, that's something that we hold very dear. You need to grow to make something out of yourself, and every immigrant can connect to that. It's really that hustle mindset and making something of yourself to bloom into a flower. The flower was really to bring back the poetry, but also connect it back to your background. It's all about growth, knowing where you're from, and blossoming through hard work.

Describe the meaning behind the yellow numbers on the back of the jersey.
Yellow is a color that flashes. It symbolizes light, sun and warmth. Those words are all connected with the Caribbean. It's so full of energy. When I think about the Caribbean, I feel that energy, so aside from blue and red, we thought that yellow was the most impactful color in terms of getting that lively feeling of the Caribbean. Yellow also comes to mind in connection with our ancestral dresses that are worn for special occasions. They all feature embroidered patterns in yellow, blue, red and green. Those colors are prominent when it's time to celebrate in Haiti.

Is there a specific message you hope people take away from your designs?
I want fans to recognize that bridge that has existed and is still existing and that is being celebrated, the bridge between black people, Haitian people, all the immigrant Black community, and Montreal and the sport of hockey. It's something that often gets forgotten because sometimes people don't make those connections. There are a lot of Black hockey fans. I was seven or eight years old the first time I saw Georges Laraque on the ice and it really hit me that we had representation on the team. It made me a bigger Habs fan. I want anybody who sees this crest to understand that the community of Canadiens fans everywhere, in all communities and all diasporas, just continues to flourish. It will never stop growing.