Messi styles Inter Miami as MLS goes retro with third kit

Third kits are back in MLS!

At least for a select few, the 2024 Adidas x MLS Archive Collection consists of five clubs. Sporting Kansas City, LA Galaxy, LAFC, Inter Miami CF and Portland Timbers are all featured in the collection, which features retro styling brought into the modern era.

Each club is not only getting a third jersey, but also a matching track jacket and, for sneakerheads, some tasty pairs of Adidas Gazelles, decorated in matching kit colors and featuring the wording club on the back tab. The entire production embraces the fashion element of the game. People love to wear their favorite team’s jersey, even when they are not in the stands with other supporters or watching the game in a pub; Why not create some jerseys and accessories that look as good on the road as they do on the pitch?

And that’s where Courtney Maze comes in. In addition to the new collection, MLS has also struck a partnership with Mays, a fashion stylist whose clients and past work have included some of the biggest names in basketball, including Chris Paul and Sue Bird. The archive collection comes with looks and shots styled by Mace to show how the third jerseys and the elements that accompany them fit into the modern styles and attitudes of the cities they represent.

Mays told ESPN in an interview on the collection, “There’s something about a soccer jersey that feels cool and nostalgic, whether it’s the silhouette; this kind of high V-neck, short sleeve shirt gives me a vintage feel.” “Reminds me of a T.” ,

Despite confessing to being “new to football”, Messi quickly found an entry point for his look with retro styles. And despite some initial challenges, such as becoming familiar with authentic soccer jersey sizes, those limitations soon became tools for creating looks for specific models and teams.

The term “model” here is merely a technicality, as no professional models were used for the shoot. Instead, there are fans on display. LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead and his family attended. And there’s even been some work by Mays’ teammate’s grandmother on a vibrant Kansas City Wizards throwback jersey. This is all intentional; Mace said she was “determined to work with real people” for the collection.

The Kansas City jersey is the highlight of this collection and really sums up what it’s all about. It brings back the rainbow and the old Wizards logo, but the rainbow’s zig-zagging pattern isn’t something we’ve seen before on a KC shirt – a bit of a reinvention for one of the most MLS-y designs of early MLS.

The Galaxy and Timbers get the same treatment, with LA getting a black and dark green split jersey, albeit separated by a border of four-pointed stars, which is a major change from the design of their post-Beckham shirt. Portland gets its old ’70s wordmark and crest, but the jersey itself comes in a deep pink, almost maroon color for the Rose City, which looks excellent with the gold lettering.

In the promo video for the look, Timbers’ history is paramount; Retired captain Jack Jewsbury talks about his connection to football in Portland and holds up Timber great Clive Charles as a touchstone. Mace himself said that he had done extensive research to look at the past history of all the clubs’ jerseys.

“I always look back to move forward,” she said. “But I think it was really important for me to know about the current state of the city… How can I represent it? Insert Portland, Kansas City. I can think a little bit about what you can do.” How can I tell the story of what you’re doing when you’re wearing the jersey?”

And then, there are the league’s two newest clubs, Miami and LAFC, whose designs aim to evoke their cities more than non-existent throwback jerseys. LAFC’s look is a play on the cream and brown of the 70s with proper lettering, while Inter Miami’s look is straight out of the 80s and utilizes some well-worn color palettes for the city.

“The words ‘Miami Vice’ were used several hundred times,” Mays admitted with a laugh.

Of course, the most important thing for many fans is that the jerseys themselves look good, which should be self-evident here. These are some of the most impressive Adidas designs to come to MLS teams in years, and hopefully more clubs from the league can join in in the future.

Here and now, there are a lot of MLS fans who are already making ideas about what they are going to wear with their new third kit. And there are fashion designers whose eyes have been opened to the possibilities that these kits represent.

Mays told ESPN, “Will you see some of these football kits in an NBA tunnel? Yes.” “I think that’s where I was introduced to how great they could be as a styling tool… I would literally use jersey to create looks.”

In a country where American soccer still commands attention in the broader sports landscape, you could do worse than seeing some MLS jerseys on a basketball superstar or two in primetime.