In 1991, AXO Sport introduced the Gelprint process to motocross apparel. The technology came from Asia — a method of applying all-over graphics to fabric using a gel medium that produced colors more vivid than anything conventional screen printing could achieve. The jerseys cost $50 retail, which was expensive for motocross gear at the time. They were also, as riders quickly discovered, brutally hot to wear. Something about the gel printing process sealed the fabric in a way that killed breathability. One period assessment: "hotter than a sweatbox, but damn they looked cool."
Photo by Martin Pettitt / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Photo by Martin Pettitt / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Within a year, every major gear brand had copied or adapted the technique. Fox, Answer, JT Racing — they all released their own all-over-print jerseys using similar processes. The window during which AXO's Gelprint was unique was approximately twelve months. In those twelve months, the look of motocross changed permanently. Before Gelprint, jerseys were base colors with printed logos. After Gelprint, jerseys were canvases.
AXO's 1991 Gelprint moment was turbocharged by Damon Bradshaw's signing. Bradshaw had been at Fox Racing — the dominant force in MX apparel — and AXO reportedly paid him seven times his Fox salary to switch. Bradshaw was the most photogenic rider in the sport. When he wore AXO, the gear looked correct in a way that made everyone else want it. One contemporary observer put it simply: "Bradshaw made these things look so fucking cool."
AXO briefly spelled their logo with umlauts — ÄXÖ — in 1990, then dropped it. One year of umlauts. The blue and purple colorway on this jersey is from the same era of confident, slightly excessive design choices. AXO in 1991 was a brand that was willing to spend more, charge more, and look louder than anyone else in the pit. The Gelprint was the technology. The attitude was the product.
This jersey is vintage. There's one.
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Header image: Photo: Manningmbd, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons