A 26-box, 2,284-pound present arrived in June at Kansas University’s Murphy Hall.

The gift — new uniforms for the Marching Jayhawks — was from about 1,000 donors who contributed more than $150,000 for the new duds.

“They’re just gorgeous,” said Jim Hudson, director of athletic bands. “We’re excited and the students are excited. They’re like kids at Christmas.”

The new uniforms are the product of the “Feather the Flock” campaign, a joint effort of the Topeka Jayhawk Club, the Lawrence Journal-World, School of Fine Arts, KU Athletics and the KU Endowment Association.

About $150,000 raised in the campaign paid for the 300 uniforms. Another approximately $70,000 will be used to start an endowed fund to provide stipends for marching band members. The School of Fine Arts is hoping to raise $1 million for the fund.

The new uniforms, produced by Fruhauf Uniforms in Wichita, replace 22-year-old uniforms, some of which were held together by duct tape.

KU band leaders had an idea for the look they were seeking — a design that combined the traditional KU uniform with the more contemporary style of drum and bugle corps.

The result, developed with Fruhauf designers, was a uniform that includes a removable cape, reversible breastplate and a removable jacket overlay that will give the band the opportunity for several looks.

“They wanted to come up with a new design that’s more contemporary but still had the elegance of the college-type uniform and maintain the flair of the traditional type of uniform,” said Richard Fruhauf, senior vice president.

After the design was unveiled in February, some Jayhawk fans decried the use of so much black in the uniform. The pants are black, the bottom portion of one uniform look was black and the hats are black with a Jayhawk emblem and crimson and blue stripes.

Talia Arguelles, Wichita, organizes breast plates for the Marching Jayhawks' new uniforms at Fruhauf Uniforms. The company manufactured 300 new uniforms for Kansas University's marching band in a month.

Fruhauf defended the use of black, saying it adds to a slimming effect on marchers and draws attention to the jacket.

“This gives you the color up high where it’s supposed to be,” he said.

Production on the uniforms began in mid-May. Company President Ken Fruhauf said the first step was the computer-controlled embroidering of the Jayhawk emblems, each of which required 25,000 to 30,000 stitches.

After that was complete, patterns were generated by a giant printer, and an electronically controlled blade cut out the fabric sections of the uniforms.

The uniforms included hundreds of individual parts that were later sewn together. In all, the project required about 4,000 yards of fabric.

Ken Fruhauf, the company’s president, estimated the job required 22,000 to 26,000 man hours — more than for a typical uniform because of all the reversible and removable options.

“A lot of people out there don’t have the slightest idea what it takes” to make a uniform, he said. “KU is probably the second or third most difficult uniform I’ve been involved with.”

KU chose to order 300 uniforms to allow its own band tradition to grow. Last fall, there were about 140 members in the band and Hudson, in his second year as director, is looking to make major expansions in band numbers after declining membership in recent years.

The band will step up its off-campus appearances this year for recruitment, including a possible appearance at a Kansas City Chiefs football game. Fund raising also is under way for stipends to begin paying band members — or at least covering their costs.

Steve Hedden, dean of the School of Fine Arts, said he was optimistic the uniforms would be part of the revitalization of the band.

“I think people will be delighted with the visual impact these will have on the field,” he said. “We think the uniforms are quite strikingly attractive and we hope there’s that type of reaction from the crowd.”