Chattahoochee Grad's Design Honors National Women's Soccer League Pact

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – When the National Women’s Soccer League and the NWSL Players Association agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement recently, a former Johns Creek resident’s apparel design helped commemorate the extraordinary moment.

Hope Kemp-Hanson, a Chattahoochee High School graduate who earned a fashion design degree from Savannah College of Art and Design, delivered a special-edition shirt that summed up the far-reaching achievement in six stylish pink and black words: “Some said never” on the back, and “We said now” on the front.

In a show of unity, the entire NWSL wore Kemp-Hanson’s shirts after players approved the new CBA July 30 and returned home from the 2024 Paris Olympics.

According to ESPN.com, the agreement – set to last through the 2030 season – affords players such gains as increased freedom of movement with total free agency upon the expiration of contracts, the elimination of player drafts, a higher salary cap, a sizable increase in minimum salaries and expanded parental leave and childcare benefits.

Additional details about the CBA on nwslsoccer.com noted it “grants players unprecedented choice and control over where they play, significantly increases player compensation and benefits, further professionalizes the league through investment in staffing, charter flights and facilities, and allows the league to create a year-round schedule.”

“Given our vision to be the best league in the world, we determined that this was the right time to align with global standards and achieve long-term labor peace,” said NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman. “This CBA gives us agency over our business and gives the players agency over their careers.”

Praising the landmark agreement as “a monumental achievement,” Kemp-Hanson said, “my design not only honored the new CBA but also symbolized the strength and progress of women's sports.”

And women’s sports – particularly soccer – have been a lifelong love of hers. While Kemp-Hanson’s fashion industry accomplishments have taken her across the country and around the world, her focus has rarely strayed far from the sport she first played at 4 and went on to compete in throughout high school and college.

The sportswear apparel designer, who currently calls Denver home, said her work began focusing on sports, culture, and movement after she signed to play soccer at SCAD. A host of honors and awards followed, as did plum projects near and far.

Of the 15 clubs in the NWSL, the premier women’s professional soccer league in the world, Kemp-Hanson’s designs have celebrated significant moments in women's sports history for nearly a third of them: Angel City FC, San Diego Wave FC, Bay FC and NJ/NY Gotham FC. Her projects have ranged from shirts celebrating the legendary Ali Krieger's retirement and career to saluting the first collaboration between the NWSL and WNBA (NJ/NY Gotham and NY Liberty).

“I’ve been able to weave both passions of design and soccer my entire life and show up in elite spaces within both of those fields,” she said. “To be able to immortalize significant moments in women's sports history, especially in a sport that has shaped my life, is the greatest honor in the world.

“To me, this opportunity is not just a career achievement,” Kemp-Hanson said, “it is a celebration of a lifelong connection to soccer and the power of pursuing one's passions.”

For more information, go to hopekemphanson.com and keep up with the sportswear apparel designer on Instagram @hope_kemphanson.