Best 20 Jerseys Of The 22/23 Season
Tue, Feb 07.23
This was never going to be an easy list to put together, was it? In a world where there’s a greater overlap between kit culture, avant-garde fashion and streetwear than ever before, compounded by the fact that we’ve seen also a World Cup come and go—it’s one of the cardinal sins in football to come out with a bad—or, God forbid, forgettable—strip.
But beyond all the marketing hype and PR waffle about the ‘heritage’ woven into the design of each strip, which teams delivered the kits shaping up to go down as cult favourites in the future? Here’s our very loosely-ranked, not-at-all-definitive best-of from a year filled with future classics. In fact, it was too hard to rank - and besides - we all know that Mexico away shirt is the best of the year anyway.
20. LAZIO AWAY (MIZUNO)
Mizuno’s prowess as a kit manufacturer is rarely seen outside the confines of the J-League, which is a shame, because much like the boots they’re better known for, they have a knack for producing designs that balance old and new in just the right way. Case and point - this very ‘80s Lazio kit, which comes complete with a new retro-inspired crest.
19. SOUTH KOREA AWAY (NIKE)
An underrated gem that sadly never made its way on to a World Cup pitch, South Korea’s away strip features splashes of primary colour across an inky grey background, evoking the bright lights of Seoul. It’s said to be inspired by Taegeuk, the symbol found on the Korean flag that represents national pride and balance between heaven and earth.
18. JAPAN THIRD (ADIDAS X NIGO)
It’s a crime that the special edition shirt Japanese streetwear god Nigo designed for the nation’s national team in the lead-up to the World Cup will likely never see a pitch, but all the same, it’s a beauty. Combining cherry blossom pink with matcha green doesn’t sound like a move that should work, but like the Japanese sweets that inspired it, it does in the most delicious way.
17. BURNLEY HOME (UMBRO)
Claret, blue, a ‘90s print and a website devoted to classic kits plastered across the front as a sponsor? It’s four big ticks from us. Let’s see it in the Prem next year.
16. AJAX AWAY (ADIDAS)
Amsterdam’s biggest club and the three stripes rarely miss, and to be honest, you could probably make the argument that the club’s training kit, designed in collaboration with Daily Paper, is the best pick of the bunch from the club this year. All the same, the away kit, with that colour scheme and the St. Andrews cross collar inspired by the city’s coat of arms, is particularly smart.
15. VENEZIA FC AWAY (KAPPA)
What’s gone wrong at Venezia on the pitch? God only knows, but the fact remains that the world’s most fashionable football club is staring successive relegations in the face after an appalling string of results so far this season. Whether they stay up or not, as ever, they’ll look good doing it.
14. ARSENAL HOME (ADIDAS)
If Arsenal go the distance and take out the title, it won’t be the admittedly very nice home shirt that goes down as an icon, but the black-and-bronze number that has consistently flown off the shelves since its debut.
13. WEST HAM HOME (UMBRO)
The best home shirt in the premier league this year? Probably, but we’ve come to expect classy shirts from Umbro and the Hammers over the years. 2022’s is no different, with a inspired pattern on the shoulders that throws back to the Burkta-produced kits of ‘93.
12. READING HOME (MACRON)
It’s rare to see football shirts make big political statements, but Reading and Macron made a bold one with the club’s home shirt for this year, decorating the sleeves with a chart displaying the effects of climate change on global temperatures. The outcome isn’t just visually striking, but thought-provoking, too.
11. JAMAICA HOME (ADIDAS X WALES BONNER)
About as late an entry as could be, but just as worthy thanks to the link-up between Adidas and Jamaican-British designer Grace Wales Bonner, who has channeled her ‘70s and ‘80s-inspired design ethos into two of the year’s best shirts.
10. VFB STUTTGART AWAY (JAKO)
A retro reboot done about as thoroughly as you could hope for, right down to the stripe details on the collar.
9. ENGLAND AWAY (NIKE)
The electric blue that adorned England’s team collection for last year’s world cup proved divisive, but there’s no doubt that when worked into the team’s early ‘90s-style away kit, the effect worked wonders. One of the kits of the tournament.
8. ROMA HOME (NEW BALANCE)
New Balance arguably aren’t the force they once were when they were making kits for a host of Europe’s biggest clubs, and indeed, even their partnership with Roma is set to come to an end at the end of the year. But they still make some of the smartest shirts in the game, and I Giallorossi’s signature kit for this campaign is no exception.
7. CORINTHIANS THIRD (NIKE)
White, gold and black has been the prevailing colour scheme throughout this year’s Corinthians collection, paying homage to the decade anniversary of the club’s FIFA Club World Cup triumph. The third kit, covered in Kanji symbols in honour of the host nation where they won the honour, is a particular gem.
6. ARGENTINA HOME (ADIDAS)
If it weren’t for the exploits of Messi and co. in Qatar, this shirt probably would have gone down as yet another very smart, but somewhat forgettable, Argentina shirt. Alas, it’s now a shirt that could well adorn museums decades down the track.
5. SOUTHAMPTON AWAY (HUMMEL)
One that caught plenty by surprise in the best way, Hummel’s Southampton away brings the city’s seafaring heritage into focus with a bold wave pattern taken from the south coast seas the city looks over.
4. MANCHESTER UNITED HOME (ADIDAS)
Loud collars and ‘90s throwbacks have been a running theme throughout the world of kits this year, and the Red Devils’ home shirt is no exception, with a shield design on the chest and a big old collar that evokes the heady days of Keane and Cantona.
3. ITALY HOME (ADIDAS)
Italy has been as synonymous with Puma kits in the last two decades as it has with pizza and pasta, but all that changed in the wake of the country’s exit from the world cup qualifiers. With a fresh start on the pitch came a new supplier in the form of Adidas, who true to form, have started things off well with a marble-printed affair in classic Azzurri blue.
2. RED STAR PARIS HOME (KAPPA x LACK OF GUIDANCE)
Fashion-forward football fans are well-aware of Amsterdam-based creative house Lack of Guidance by now, but if you’re not, the brand’s first stab at a proper football kit, created for Paris’s Red Star with Kappa, is already set in stone as a future classic with its clean colours and distinctive ‘Linked Out’ branding.'
1. MEXICO AWAY (ADIDAS)
We’ve already declared it the kit of the year, and to be honest, can you blame us? With a unique sewn-effect pattern that pays tribute to the Mixtec and Aztec artwork found among Mexico’s ancient ruins, it’s an instant classic. It’s wonder it’s been sold out pretty much constantly since it first dropped.
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