Instant classics, odd inspirations and barcodes: 2026-27’s best and worst kits

A look at six of the best and worst of the new season’s strips gives us Pro Evo chic, throwbacks done right, and how – and how not – to use stripes The Premier League season kicks off on Friday and league debutants such as Christos Tzolis and Victor Muñoz , along with masses of fans, will be pulling on their teams’ shiny new strips.

There were some lovely efforts at the World Cup (not least by the co-hosts the USA ), and others more tedious than a 0-0 draw.

It’s a mixed bag once again.

Manchester City have gone with an ombre design , which feels – apposite for a gradient fading of colour – exhausted as a look in 2026.

In the most surprising but successful collaboration since Olivia Rodrigo and Robert Smith ,Sunderland have teamed up with Elvis Presley, or his estate, anyway, for a pink away shirt that nods to the supporters’ longstanding unofficial anthem Can’t Help Falling in Love.

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