MLS kits 2023

[gosioux76]

2 hours ago, PaleVermilion81 said:

Not even gonna lie. I legit thought this was Atlanta. 

Ha! At first glance (from in phone,) I thought it was RSL.

[upperV03]

Several interesting matchups yesterday other than the ugly Seattle/LAFC game. 
 

Stripes vs. roses in Atlanta:

 

White/black/black vs. dark/light/light in Dallas:

 

Houston/Austin with the appropriate St. Paddy’s matchup:

 

I don’t remember San Jose having black shorts for their away kits last year, but that’s what they wore yesterday in St. Louis:

 

Always strange to see the Galaxy in an away kit at home (especially with the opposition in white), but their new kit is so good that I don’t even mind:

[WhitecapsForLife11]

On 3/19/2023 at 9:37 AM, upperV03 said:

Always strange to see the Galaxy in an away kit at home (especially with the opposition in white), but their new kit is so good that I don’t even mind:

 

Your picture reminds me, maybe I'm in the minority on this, but I do not love the all-white Whitecaps look. They've gone with that look every time this year with their new kit but I much prefer the blue shorts, feels like it adds some nice colour to the overall look after years of the all-white look. Plus, the white top kinda fits the name of 'Whitecaps' too.

[MrOrange]

I'm generally not a fan of monochrome looks either, maybe it's the addition of the red lines to the "classic" cheest hoop and/or the combo with this years shorts/sock design, but I actually like the 2023 "all white" look better for once.

 

My favorite Whitecaps look however is still the 2016 away/secondary one with primary navy socks and shorts + and navy/dark > sky blue > white shoulders/arms gradient jersey.

 

[hereandthere]

18 hours ago, MrOrange said:

I'm generally not a fan of monochrome looks either, maybe it's the addition of the red lines to the "classic" cheest hoop and/or the combo with this years shorts/sock design, but I actually like the 2023 "all white" look better for once.

 

My favorite Whitecaps look however is still the 2016 away/secondary one with primary navy socks and shorts + and navy/dark > sky blue > white shoulders/arms gradient jersey.

 

 

This remains to this date my favourite Whitecaps kit, and easily one of my favourite MLS kits ever. Stellar jersey and visual storytelling (which is not a must, but if is done right like in this case it is a plus). 

[upperV03]

The Galaxy posted on Twitter yesterday that they’ll be wearing their green secondary kits in Portland on Saturday. The home team gets first choice on kits (unless the league has to step in for clash purposes), so the Timbers are apparently choosing to wear their pink kits. My guess on the reasoning for that is because the Thorns have their season opener on Sunday, so sort of a way to honor them. It’s also the first weekend of spring, so I suppose it’s a fitting time to wear the roses at home. While I’d prefer the Timbers stick to their primaries at home (especially if the alternative is the visitors wearing green), this will make for a better kit matchup than all-green vs. all-white.

 

A few other teams have announced what kits they’re wearing this weekend, so here’s a guess at all of the matchups. Once again, * = confirmed kit choice or at least confirmed shirt choice.

 

*Portland (pink/crimson/pink vs. *LAG (all-green)

 

*Charlotte (all-purple) vs. NYRB (all-yellow)

 

Columbus (all-black) vs. *Atlanta (mint/white/mint)

 

*DC (all-white) vs. *New England (all-navy)

 

Miami (all-pink) vs. Chicago (all-navy)

 

Philadelphia (all-navy) vs. Orlando (all-white)

 

Austin (stripes/black/black) vs. *Colorado (all-light blue)

 

*Houston (all-black) vs. *NYCFC (all-city blue)

 

SKC (all-light blue) vs. *Seattle (dragon/black/black)

 

Minnesota (all-black) vs. Vancouver (all-white)

 

Nashville (all-yellow) vs. Cincinnati (royal/navy/navy)

 

*RSL (red/blue/red) vs. *St. Louis (all-light gray)

 

LAFC (all-black) vs. FCD (all-white)

 

San Jose (all-black) vs. Toronto (all-white)

 

I’ll update this post if/when more teams confirm their kit choices.

[aawagner011]

I wish MLS clubs would just wear their primary kits at home all the time. 99% of the time, Real Madrid is wearing white at home, Barca are in stripes, Bayern in red, Chelsea in blue, and Juve in their stripes. Instead we get matchups like Atlanta (pale green) vs Columbus (black) when we could have yellow vs red and black stripes. Earlier, we had LA wearing their new green with yellow trim playing in Portland. I get teams want to push these new shirts at retail, but they should also try to establish solid identities. I would say that brings just as much value as a few shirts sold at the team store, if not more.

[upperV03]

Definitely some strange matchups yesterday. Portland/LAG kind of just looked like the Timbers having an intrasquad scrimmage, although the colors did really pop in the sun:

 

On TV, Charlotte/NYRB looked more like Orlando vs. Columbus or Nashville:

In addition to Portland, Charlotte, and Columbus, DC and Houston also wore their secondaries at home. 

[MJWalker45]

19 hours ago, aawagner011 said:

I wish MLS clubs would just wear their primary kits at home all the time. 99% of the time, Real Madrid is wearing white at home, Barca are in stripes, Bayern in red, Chelsea in blue, and Juve in their stripes. Instead we get matchups like Atlanta (pale green) vs Columbus (black) when we could have yellow vs red and black stripes. Earlier, we had LA wearing their new green with yellow trim playing in Portland. I get teams want to push these new shirts at retail, but they should also try to establish solid identities. I would say that brings just as much value as a few shirts sold at the team store, if not more.

Or have adidas provide everyone with third jerseys so they don't have to worry about RGB color conflicts. Columbus wasn't too bad, because they've been doing that for years. 

[upperV03]

Here’s an idea of what this week’s matchups might look like. * = confirmed shirt and/or kit choice.

 

Atlanta (stripes/black/red) vs. NYRB (all-yellow)

 

*Cincy (royal/navy/navy) vs. Miami (all-pink)

 

*Columbus (yellow/black/yellow) vs. *RSL (red/blue/red)

*LAG (all-white) vs. Seattle (dragon/black/black)

 

*New England (all-navy) vs. NYCFC (all-city blue)

 

Orlando (all-purple) vs. Nashville (all-yellow)

Philadelphia (all-navy) vs. SKC (all-light blue)

 

*Toronto (gray/red/gray) vs. *Charlotte (blue/white/blue)

 

Chicago (navy/navy/red) vs. DCU (all-white)

 

*Dallas (red/blue/blue) vs. *Portland (pink/white/pink)

 

St. Louis (all-red) vs. Minnesota (all-white)

 

*Colorado (burgundy/blue/burgundy) vs. *LAFC (all-smog green)

 

San Jose (all-black) vs. Houston (all-orange)

 

Vancouver (blue/white/blue?) vs. *Montreal (all-gray)

[DG_ThenNowForever]

St Louis vs. Minnesota is a beautiful game. Quite honestly, one of the best looking I've ever seen in MLS.

 

[Digby]

eh I really like that Minnesota shirt so much less with the full kit. Confusingly, feels like the all-white actually makes the cool color elements get overwhelmed and stand out less.

 

NYCFC wore their away kit to New England on Saturday, which I don’t remember seeing before. This photo implies that the navy zigzag might’ve posed a problem but it was fine in practice. I actually preferred the bright contrast.

 

[upperV03]

Interesting note for the Whitecaps, as their MLS NEXT Pro side has so far worn navy shorts with the new primary kit:

 

They of course have the WFC2 crest, but this suggests to me that navy shorts are an option for the first team as well. While I don’t mind the all-white look with their new kit, I hope the MLS side wears this combo at some point this year and next. I will say, I kinda wish the shorts and socks had white adidas stripes instead of light blue but that’s a relatively minor complaint.

[upperV03]

Here’s a guess at this weekend’s matchups. * = confirmed shirt and/or kit choice.

 

Cincy (royal/navy/navy) vs. Philly (tan/light blue/light blue)

 

DC (all-black) vs. Columbus (all-yellow)

 

LAFC (all-black) vs. Austin (all-mint)

 

 Miami (all-pink) vs. Dallas (red/blue/blue)

 

*New England (all-navy) vs. *Montreal (all-gray)

 

NYRB (all-red??) vs. San Jose (gray/black/gray??)

 

NYCFC (all-city blue) vs. Atlanta (stripes/black/red)

 

Chicago (navy/navy/red) vs. Minnesota (all-white)

 

Houston (all-orange) vs. LAG (all-white)

 

SKC (all-sporting blue) vs. *Colorado (burgundy/light blue/burgundy)

 

Nashville (all-yellow) vs. Toronto (gray/red/gray)

*RSL (red/blue/red) vs. *Charlotte (blue/white/blue)

 

Seattle (green/blue/green) vs. St. Louis (all-gray)

 

Vancouver (all-white) vs. Portland (all-green)

 

Feel free to post corrections if/when more teams confirm their choices.

[McCall]

St. Louis wearing their city red on the road for the first time at Seattle.

[upperV03]

On 4/4/2023 at 9:03 AM, upperV03 said:

Interesting note for the Whitecaps, as their MLS NEXT Pro side has so far worn navy shorts with the new primary kit:

 

They of course have the WFC2 crest, but this suggests to me that navy shorts are an option for the first team as well. While I don’t mind the all-white look with their new kit, I hope the MLS side wears this combo at some point this year and next. I will say, I kinda wish the shorts and socks had white adidas stripes instead of light blue but that’s a relatively minor complaint.

The Whitecaps did actually debut the navy shorts last night against Portland:

 

Another note from yesterday, the Union debuted tan socks for their away kit:

[dannykraft]

The union looks way better with gold socks, it gives a lot more balance. 

[GriffinM6]

I know others were saying they like that MLS teams are starting to use simplified crests for their kits. I noticed Atlanta using one for their goal-scoring graphic, and I gotta say, I really like it. Hopefully it'll be used on the next secondary kit in 2024 and maybe they'll start selling merch with it as well.  

[BlazerBlaze]

15 hours ago, GriffinM6 said:

I know others were saying they like that MLS teams are starting to use simplified crests for their kits. I noticed Atlanta using one for their goal-scoring graphic, and I gotta say, I really like it. Hopefully it'll be used on the next secondary kit in 2024 and maybe they'll start selling merch with it as well.  

They've really been leaning into the spike think lately and I've also been loving it. Snagged this hat at the 2nd game and it's quickly become my favorite. Really hope they use the A-Spike for the crest on the secondary for a few. 
 

[gosioux76]

15 hours ago, GriffinM6 said:

I know others were saying they like that MLS teams are starting to use simplified crests for their kits. I noticed Atlanta using one for their goal-scoring graphic, and I gotta say, I really like it. Hopefully it'll be used on the next secondary kit in 2024 and maybe they'll start selling merch with it as well.  

 

I love this. 

 

The use of secondary or word-less logos on the jersey crest has really been gaining steam. Arsenal has gone to the simplified cannon logo on change kits. In MLS, Portland is still the only team that uses it full-time, though Minnesota adopted a simplified crest for their new home jerseys and Philly is using that beautiful simplified snake logo on its change kits. 

 

As I've pointed out before, St. Louis uses its word-less secondary logo in pretty much everything except its on-field kits. I'd expect that to change in the future. 

 

It's smart branding.