Kit Culture Is Bigger Than Ever, But Which Clubs Are Winning the Shirt Game in 2026-27?

New kits drop and suddenly everyone's a fashion critic. It happens every summer without fail, and the 2026-27 season has delivered one of the strongest batches of shirt releases in years. From Serie A to League Two, clubs are going deep into their archives and the results are mostly excellent.

We've been keeping a close eye on the releases and there are some clear winners, a few surprises and one or two clubs that are absolutely swinging for the fences.

The Retro Wave Is in Full Swing

If there's one theme running through the 2026-27 kit season, it's nostalgia. Clubs are raiding their own history at an unprecedented rate, and football fans are lapping it up.

Liverpool's home kit is a straight-up tribute to the Adidas strip they wore during the 1989-91 period, one of the most beloved in the club's history. It doesn't try to be clever about it. It just delivers. Their away kit follows a similar thread, pulling from the aesthetic of European nights in the seventies and eighties. Both are outstanding.

Manchester United's away shirt, inspired by a third kit worn in just three matches between 1988 and 1990, is a genuinely smart piece of kit archaeology. United have history in blue and the throwback feels earned rather than gimmicky.

Napoli's third strip is another standout. The reference to the Maradona era kits from 1986-90 is obvious but it's executed beautifully. For any football fan who grew up watching that team, it hits differently.

The Clubs Making a Real Statement

Some releases go beyond just looking good. They carry a weight of meaning that makes them genuinely special.

Celtic's home kit marking 60 years since the Lisbon Lions won the European Cup is one of the most emotionally loaded shirts of the season. The commemorative badge and inscription inside the neck are classy touches that respect the history without overdoing it.

AC Milan's away shirt, celebrating 20 years since their last Champions League title, modelled by Filippo Inzaghi no less, is a club leaning into its identity with real confidence. It works.

Fiorentina's centenary shirt, featuring an embossed pattern inspired by Renaissance art from the city of Florence, is one of the most culturally rich designs we've seen in years. It could have been pretentious. Instead it's genuinely beautiful.

Coventry City's new home kit carries extra weight this season. Drawing from the 1987 FA Cup final, it connects the club's greatest moment to their return to the Premier League after 25 years away. Frank Lampard's side kick off against Arsenal on 21 August and that shirt will mean everything to the supporters in the ground.

The Dark Horses Nobody Is Talking About Enough

Grimsby Town deserve more credit than they'll get. Lotto returning as their kit supplier and reviving the 1996-97 design, essentially the same kit worn by AC Milan legends, is one of the most joyful stories of the summer. It's absurd and brilliant at the same time.

Sunderland collaborating with the Elvis Presley estate for their away kit is one of the most unexpected moves any club has made in years. It shouldn't work. It completely works. When a song becomes that embedded in a club's matchday culture, wearing it on the shirt is a bold but earned decision.

Oxford United teaming up with a local street artist to design their kit is exactly the kind of community-rooted thinking more clubs should be doing. Football is local first, and that shirt reflects it.

Our Verdict on the Kit Season

This is one of the strongest across-the-board kit seasons we can remember. The retro revival trend has peaked in the best possible way, with clubs showing genuine care and craft rather than just slapping stripes on a template.

Our kit of the season, if we're picking one, is Liverpool's home strip. It's simple, it's loaded with history, and it looks as good on the pitch as it does on the shelf. Fiorentina's centenary shirt runs it close.

The wider picture tells us something about football culture right now. Fans want connection. They want shirts that mean something beyond a sponsorship deal and a new colourway. The clubs that understand that are winning. The ones that don't are selling overpriced polyester with no soul.

Football and kit culture are more intertwined than ever, and based on what we've seen so far for 2026-27, most clubs are finally taking that seriously.