What do Kappa football shirts look like this season?

One is often accustomed to accepting jersey releases as individual club choices, trying to understand how the history and tradition of the teams fit into the annual projects that are called Home, Away, Third kits and so on with any special projects. Jerseys, however, can also be understood as part of a larger creative idea that is that of individual brands, and it is easier to try to understand a broader pattern for those sponsors who have multiple teams and in different leagues.

Kappa is one such brand, the kits presented for Italian, Spanish, English, Greek or South African clubs, while highlighting the characteristics of the individual teams have points of contact between them. The brand's choices insist on the direction taken in recent seasons and add new elements to the concept of the football shirt, which is increasingly to be considered as a garment that can be worn off the pitch, with the challenge of being able to meet a wider audience.

Flying through all the jerseys presented so far by Kappa, one notices a certain variety in the colours but also some common elements, not identifiable in the layouts as is often the case for brands, but more in the choices related to creativity. In fact, the layouts also appear very different from each other, Kappa shirts have collars ranging from polo-style with buttons or without, crew-neck t-shirts or V-necks, all perfectly integrated with the creativity of the different teams. Variety seemed to Kappa a means of not flattening the package of proposals and not insisting only on a single feeling aroused by the designs. One does not recognise a strand that looks to volumes of the future, just as one does not perceive a riding the wave of nostalgia, the balance for Kappa lies in the variety and management of colours and textures.  

With the exception of a few kits, for which more 'bold' work has been done on the designs and patterns, such as those of Fiorentina which replicate the lily motif, Bari's Third kit or those presented for Valladolid, the others follow more sober choices. If, as always, a lot of creativity in design was expected from the Kaizer Chief's jersey, the others of the season follow the direction of two-dimensionality, with simple colour contrasts and well-defined blocks, in some cases tone on tone. The Venezia jerseys, much anticipated by fans in recent seasons, follow this line, as do those of Monaco, Genoa, Spezia, Hull City, Empoli and Brescia, only the Red Star kit goes slightly towards a richer design in the colour scheme.

The common thread of geometry is joined by the contrast of unassuming pantones, which cite the clubs' history but in some cases add a modern twist. Among the most interesting innovations presented by Kappa this season is the use of stitching as a means of highlighting the design of the shirt and especially the volumes, this choice is present in the Athens Kallithea FC Third Kit and represents a path seen only among Kappa's proposals.