It felt a bit like satire when Michigan revealed its new football jerseys Tuesday in Detroit. As if we were on the set of a Hollywood parody whose aim was to poke fun at the self-importance of college football fashion.
Or college football itself.
It was hard to tell if we were in Detroit or Paris, what with the industrial chic motif, the neon blue light illuminating the new Jordan Brand apparel — yes, that Jordan — the dark-gray mannequins sheathed in skin-tight jerseys bearing Michael Jordan’s iconic No. 23.
All of it tucked inside the original Ford Model T factory on Piquette Avenue, where a television personality breathlessly led a contingent of photographers down the old factory line, revealing a few designs with every step.