MLS Kits 2021

[GriffinM6]

Has Houston ever done an orange shirt, white shorts, and black socks combo? I think that would look great with the new shirt. 

[upperV03]

The shorts are black and the socks are blue with black at the top. Now after seeing the full thing and the authentic version of the shirt, I can say that this is a very solid kit overall. Definitely their best kit since the blue/black/blue kit worn from 2014-2016. I’m glad the authentic version at least has white trim on the collar to better tie in to the white cuffs, but it still bothers me that they don’t match. Other than that, though, this is a very good effort.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Finally some distinction before San Jose and Montreal!

 

Kidding. The Earthquakes look great. I'm not the biggest fan of black and blue together, but they blue San Jose is running with is an awesome shade. It'll look fantastic in the sun.

[TacoCat83]

Yeah that's a well done kit! Nice work SJ

[Digby]

Actually now I’m bothered by all the inconsistent trimmings from the collar to the cuffs to the side panel. Still nice, though!

[Corvus]

Nice shirt from San Jose, never cared for their black look. That is a nice bright colour.

 

The New England kit is interesting when you zoom in and see the two different colours of adidas stripes on each side, but it still suffers from the excess subtlety of design elements that so many of these kits do. No one will notice on TV or in a stadium. 

 

Houston is nice, a bit plain but the strength of the orange and black look saves it. 

[docbrass]

5 hours ago, GriffinM6 said:

Has Houston ever done an orange shirt, white shorts, and black socks combo? I think that would look great with the new shirt. 

 

I don't think so. Black wasn't used as a main color until the secondary jersey. The only black was the standard shorts. It use to always be orange/white/orange.

[BC985]

Dear San Jose,

 

This is YOUR look. NEVER change.

[damnyoutuesday]

Only thing I don't love about that quakes kit is the stupid sponsor logo

[upperV03]

It’s fine, nothing special. The shirt is paired with orange shorts again, which is definitely a mistake. I’m really not a fan of mono-orange for them, so I’ll never be all that fond of their primary kits unless and until they go back to white shorts or go orange/black/orange.

[BC985]

I think Houston is making all of the right choices; orange shorts and all. 

[cajunaggie08]

My only wish for the Dynamo was that the primary shirts stayed orange. Glad I wasn't let down

[cajunaggie08]

The Dynamo sister club the Houston Dash also released their new uniform look. The orange doesn't match at all between the Dyanamo and Dash. I dont know if this was because Nike didnt have the ability or cared to match the shade of orange that Adidas uses for the Dynamo or if it is intentionally done to give a bit more different to look between the two clubs.

 

[docbrass]

17 minutes ago, cajunaggie08 said:

The Dynamo sister club the Houston Dash also released their new uniform look. The orange doesn't match at all between the Dyanamo and Dash. I dont know if this was because Nike didnt have the ability or cared to match the shade of orange that Adidas uses for the Dynamo or if it is intentionally done to give a bit more different to look between the two clubs.

 

 

the Dash has always used a different, darker red-orange. I guess to help differentiate and/or sale more jerseys.

 

[docbrass]

53 minutes ago, upperV03 said:

It’s fine, nothing special. The shirt is paired with orange shorts again, which is definitely a mistake. I’m really not a fan of mono-orange for them, so I’ll never be all that fond of their primary kits unless and until they go back to white shorts or go orange/black/orange.

 

I agree. should have brought back white shorts.  when added black, went monochrome for home orange.

 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Agreed that white shorts would look better. I think their new shirt is nice, but upon closer examination, for a team with a new logo it's probably not enough of a departure from last year:

 

I'm a little puzzled by the new look. In a vacuum, it's nice. Compared to what it replaced, it kind of feels unnecessary?

 

EDIT: Replaced a 2019 photo with a 2020 one.

[Digby]

The old Houston home jersey did have that jagged stripe pattern (almost as a precursor to the new Philly kit).

 

but, I guess as comparing the above action pic to the below promo pic shows, it WAS so subtle as to appear plain in the wild.

 

[WarriorFight]

Man, Houston is just fine right? just uninspiring, and I agree if they paired it with black shorts it'd be pretty good. Glad they kept the orange and didn't go to black for the primary, but it feels like a missed opportunity to lay claim to a look with the new badge.

[KitLeakBoi]

Orlando will use the same collar/buttons style as Portland.
White shoulder stripes. White sleeve piping. Color/design alignment:

 

[aawagner011]

Long post.
 

I’ve acknowledged it once or twice in this thread, but seeing all of the shirts in a single graphic really drives home the point about sublimated graphics. That method of design shouldn’t be the primary way of introducing flourishes to a kit.

 

 

I would say there are perhaps 3-4 shirts that have a design feature that would be noticeable from more than 15 feet away. Or to put it in other terms, noticeable while watching on TV or in the stands. Those few would be Atlanta (could still be difficult to discern the pinstripes, definitely a downgrade from the stripes), Portland with the half and half, Vancouver, and maybe San Jose, though I’m really splitting hairs about the side panels if I’m qualifying those as “design features.”

 

The others with sublimated designs: Dallas, New England, Nashville, Chicago, Miami, NYCFC, Seattle (rumored leak), Columbus, MNUFC (they’re basically invisible but the water waves are definitely there), and Orlando. None of them will be noticeable on television.

 

This trend of using a base template, using a generic pattern overlayed at 5% opacity, coming up with a BS narrative, and pitching it as “unique” is trash. The league is so generic right now. Where are the stripes? Where are the hoops? Where are the contrasting sleeves or shorts? Pinstripes (which now I’m realizing Cincy isn’t in that graphic)? Sashes? There’s so much more than can be done and instead adidas and MLS roll out these generic “designs” that could be switched out with any other club and pass as legitimate.

 

Take another look and you’ll notice there’s only crew necks, v-necks, and henleys. The majority of the v-necks have the same style applied with a thin contrasting trim color on the collar. So much for “unique.”

 

This is a further problem for an industry that pushes out new kits in the market every year. Adidas has to release the new design each season and none of the kits have time to achieve staying power. I think this industry trend sort of works in international football. Real Madrid or Bayern can look back on 100+ years of history, pull inspiration from old designs, reference their communities (some of which have been around for countless centuries) and try new things. That works for those clubs because there’s so much to use in the creative process. On the flip side, MLS clubs have at most 25 years of history to pull from, while approximately half of the clubs have rebranded with updated identities. Dallas doesn’t use the proper stripes, NYRB sold its soul to an energy drink and doesn’t wear stripes anymore, Chicago isn’t in red with that oh-so-recognizable white stripe, Columbus without a yellow top? - unthinkable, Montreal ditched their well known stripes for a generic black strip, Miami has an awesome color combo but is clueless about how to use it...I could go on and on. MLS really needs some help in the merchandising department. They need to reel it in from adidas and take back some control.