Instant classics, odd inspirations and barcodes: 2025-26’s best and worst kits
A look at six of the best and worst of the new season’s strips gives us Pro Evo chic, throwbacks done right, and how – and how not – to use stripes
TL;DR
- Chelsea's new home kit is noted for its clean design, lack of corporate logo, and 90s polo-shirt collar aesthetic, featuring Ted Drake’s lion emblem.
- Liverpool's home shirt is praised as a homage to their 1989-91 jersey, offering a vibrant contrast to the current state of football, while their white away kit is also deemed handsome.
- Hull's new-old look draws inspiration from their late 70s aesthetic with wide stripes and a white collar, marking the return of the HCAFC logo.
- Newcastle's home kit is criticized for its dizzying, barcode-like pattern, described as "disrupted" and more suited for a self-service checkout.
- Ipswich's home shirt features a motif inspired by Portman Road's floodlights, which is described as eye-rolling and resembling mood crystals from The Sims.
- Manchester United's home shirt is visually disrupted by the thick Adidas stripes, appearing as a mismatch of two separate kits, though their away kit is a suave cobalt blue nod to the 80s.