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 stripesThe 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. Continue reading...