U.S. Soccer already has a new crest, and now the men’s and women’s national teams have new Nike-designed uniforms to go with it.
Here’s what they look like:
U.S. Soccer reveals new #USMNT, #USWNT uniforms. I go in-depth w/ designer on @si_soccer https://t.co/9BvPgutTLg pic.twitter.com/ZwXiP3o6rR
— Tim Newcomb (@tdnewcomb) March 17, 2016
The uniforms are fairly elegant at first glance, but they’re causing a bit of a stir for a few reasons.
For one thing, Nike seems committed to outfitting U.S. soccer teams in black, even though our country’s colors have been red, white and blue for almost 250 years. It shouldn’t be too hard to build a few uniform combinations using those three highly compatible colors.
As our own Phillip Bupp wrote over at 32 Flags when a photo of the black jersey was released…
Since it seems like Nike is more concerned about their #brand than designing a kit for the United States of America, here’s a tip. The United States colors on the flag are red, white and blue. Not black or green or any other color you decide to put on a national team kit instead of the traditional colors, especially colors of a rather patriotic nation like the USA.
Via SI.com, here’s a defense of the black color scheme from Scott Munson, vice president of Nike football apparel:
“When we looked at black and started to play black off the red and blue, that is a super strong statement,” Munson says. “We felt like the U.S. is ready for that. When you look at the balance of the two (kits), it is extremely patriotic and fresh and unexpected and really prideful.”
The other issue with these new uniforms is that they look eerily similar to ones Nike designed for France and England.
Here’s England’s white jersey, which is basically the same as the American one, only with a lighter color blue along the sleeves.
The new @england kit modelled by @RBarkley20 #EFC #ENG pic.twitter.com/mEKcBEbe8I
— 𝐓𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐄 𝐓𝐕 (@ToffeeTVEFC) March 17, 2016
And here, on the right, is France’s road uniform, with different-color sleeves that are essentially identical to the ones on the black American jersey.
Wow, the France home kit for Euro2016 is exceptionally ugly. Mamma Mia… https://t.co/OTW7jzS5te
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) March 17, 2016
Maybe Nike was short on time, so they just copy and pasted one uniform onto another? Or they’ve just expended all their creativity on Oregon football uniforms? Whatever the reason, it will be a little awkward when the U.S. plays France and everyone realizes the sides are wearing the same thing in different colors.
You would think Nike would step it up when designing uniforms for their own home country, but as it turns out, maybe not.
