The history of Italy is testimony to the fact that its countrymen know a thing or two about fashion. Armani, Versace, Prada, Gucci are just a few of the infamous list of list-A designer brands that were birthed in Italy and now dominate the global fashion industry.
Naturally, one would expect the same quality and panache out of the football kits that come out of Italy as well. In ESPN’s ranking of the best football kits ever, there are 4 Italian kits with Sampdoria’s 1990-92, an Italian club kit taking the first spot in the list.
Kits of legacy clubs such as AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus have always had an air of classicism attached to it and they have also stuck to this tradition even when the rest of football has been focusing on curating their kits for the broader modern football audience.
Even when these Italian clubs have ventured out away from their tradition, it has still maintained an elite aura. For instance, when AC Milan launched a collection of clothing made out of upcycled old kits, it included pieces made with the same classic look of their kits.
But it looks like Juventus and Adidas have gone a step forward than the rest in Italy with their new pre-match warm-up kit that looks to be combining the best from both schools of thought.
Juve’s new warm up kit is WILD.
— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) March 8, 2022
What you rating it out of 10? 💭 pic.twitter.com/nl0lGPVZWn
While the kit has a designer zigzag pattern that would be found on branded sweaters, the colour scheme has the exact opposite effect where it is playing on the modern football fan’s liking for brash, bright and flamboyant clothing.
This experimental kit has evidently divided opinions amongst fans, with the kit receiving 4/10 and 8/10 ratings simultaneously. One fan seems to have found the kit being eerily similar to their parents’ old sweater and seems to be reminiscing on it:
Hmm, think I recognize this. It’s my mum’s and dad’s old fleeze sweaters. pic.twitter.com/A0WknJShKr
— Karl Ahlberg (@KarlAhlberg) March 8, 2022
This Juve fan on the other hand seems to have summarized the kit’s purpose and impact with great accuracy:
Perhaps this mixture of ideas from two different cultural time places is the way ahead to ensure that the requirements of fans who want both out of their beloved Italian kits is met properly.