TORONTO — The Canadian Premier League’s inaugural season promises to be a year of firsts. And, the unveiling of the 14 kits that will be worn by the league’s seven clubs was certainly one of them.

A pair of players from each club took to the runway inside Toronto’s Berkley Church Thursday night to model Macron kits in front of a packed audience.

“First time modelling, if you can’t tell by my face,” Valour FC striker Stephen Hoyle joked. “This is my first time on the (runway).”

“That’s a first, definitely,” added HFX Wanderers youngster Scott Firth. “Never been modelling before.”

They pulled it off without a hitch.

“It was a totally different experience,” said Cavalry FC’s Jordan Brown. “I loved every minute of it. It’s good to see how it’s being backed and moving in the right direction to achieve big things.”

“It was special tonight and I’m glad I was able to be a part of it,” echoed Randy Edwini-Bonsu of FC Edmonton.

Then named the debate.

HFX Wanderers’ two shades of blue drew a favourable review from York9 FC’s Kyle Porter, while Hoyle was not alone in being impressed by Valour’s striking, deep-red home kit with gold accents.

“I think they’re beautiful,” Hoyle said of the Valour duo. “It’s a little bit biased but they’re actually a couple of my favourite kits. I really enjoy the home one — the home is probably my favourite kit here.”

“I think they’re all beautiful — except our jersey’s the best one, obviously,” countered Edwini-Bonsu with a smile. “But the Pacific one is beautiful as well.”

Hoyle singled out Pacific FC, too, but had a caveat to add.

“One of the other kits I like is the Pacific away kit, the light, baby blue,” he said. “But if you’re wearing that, you’ve got to win games!”

The night also served, in some ways, as a reminder.

It was a reminder that regardless of how we reached this point, what lies ahead is unique. Just as the CPL’s clubs had the opportunity to shape their kits from scratch, they will take to the field as attention shifts to pre-season in the Dominican, where they’ll continue to learn who they are in much the same way.

“I don’t think there will be (another) westernized country that will start a professional league as its division one, because everyone else is already established,” Hoyle reflected.

“Valour, at the moment, doesn’t have an identity. We don’t know what it is, it’s just something.

“So for me to have an opportunity to go in the changing room with 20 other guys and create the identity and what the values of Valour are … I can say, look, when we put that together I was a big part of why Valour is what it is and why these players conduct themselves the way they conduct themselves.”

“We’ve waited for so long for this,” said Edwini-Bonsu. “And now the wait is over.”

He was talking about the kits, but the statement applies to so much more.

Following Thursday night’s anticipated kit launch, the CPL is now just weeks away from kicking off as a league.