Football shirts that look like bus seats have been a big thing lately, and this week, Puma gave us a very fancy shirt reminiscent of Italian renaissance wallpaper.
Italy will wear a brand new green 3rd shirt against Greece in Rome this weekend, as a tribute to a one-off kit worn by the Azzurri almost 65 years ago.
Coincidentally, Italy claimed a 2-0 win over Argentina in their green shirts at the very same Stadio Olimpico back in December 1954.
Since then, Italy’s youth teams have at times worn green shirts to save the honour of wearing the famous Azzurri blue for the first team.
There you go. You learn something new every day.
These new 3rd shirts by Puma represent a rebirth for the Italians, with Roberto Mancini trusting a younger squad to move forward from their failure to qualify for Russia 2018.
Puma’s intricate patterned shirt is inspired by renaissance art, fabrics and yes, they are reminiscent of wallpaper.
The question of how kit firms can continue to come up with new designs has been a hot topic after a wave of retrospective offerings in recent years.
You can only look back to the 80s and 90s for so long before becoming stale, so Puma’s decision to turn the clock back a few centuries and pair it with an historic colour from Italy’s football shirt archive deserves to be applauded.
The artistic licence offered by the alternative kit should provide manufacturers with a free reign of expression, unshackled by restrictions to traditional colour schemes.
Third kits have been ignored at international level for far too long and sadly, Puma’s renaissance shirts are unlikely to be worn at Euro 2020, where teams are restricted to just two nominated home and away designs.
Whether or not Italy’s young players get the rub of the green and wear them more than once remains to be seen, but we certainly hope this artistic alternative kit represents the renaissance of the third shirt at international level.
What do you think of Italy’s green 3rd kit?
Please let us know in the comments section below!
Sartorial Soccer 