No More Templates? What Nike's Big Announcement For Kits Really Means
When Nike revealed the first 2020 national team kits and Nike senior director Heidi Burgett shortly after confirmed "that Nike is ditching the templates", there was virtually a party on social media. But what does Nike's promise really mean?
Nike Has 65 Chassis Options In 2020
Nike did not say really much about what they have in store for football kits in 2020. Below is the main statement regarding the kits.
Nike 2010 World Cup kit
"We’re ditching the templates. For the 2020 kits, Nike designers had 65 chassis options available to them across varying necklines, sleeves, cuffs, badge placement, etc. “From hand-drawn prints to custom fonts, each team’s look will be its own.”
But what does this mean?
We’re ditching the templates:
There is no more one design for all teams templates like in 2016, when Nike introduced the Aeroswift jersey.
Nike designers had 65 chassis options available to them across varying necklines, sleeves, cuffs, badge placement, etc
There are not 65 completely different templates. Instead, Nike designers will have the option to choose between around eight different necklines, (probably) two badge placement options, (probably) two 'sleeve' designs and a few different cuffs. If you multiply 8*2*2*4 you got 64 different chassis - so there are not really infinite options.
From hand-drawn prints to custom fonts, each team’s look will be its own:
The fact that there are hand-drawn prints is nothing really new, even though the Nigeria design stands out from previous Nike jerseys with its uniqueness. Previously, Nike already did have custom fonts for its national teams, and unique designs were also no exception. The brand did also introduce a range of different collar options since 2016, which especially the 2019-2020 third kits standing out.
Nike 2020 Kits - Summary
We think that the main advantage to previous Nike templates is that the cut allows the design to stand out without interruption with the sleeves / back. This was especially a problem with striped kits like Barcelona's 2018-19 home shirt.
In fact, what Nike is doing here is similar to what Italian brand Macron has been doing since a few years already, especially with different necklines, cuffs and sleeves.
More Nike 2020 kits with the new 'template' will be launched in March 2020 likely, with each Nike-sponsored national team except Nigeria, USA and South Korea set to reveal their missing national team jerseys.
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