Your Friday Kickoff: Why the latest MLS 2023 jerseys caught my eye
Seriously, I would have felt bad leaving the new kits out after addressing the wave on Wednesday. Or at least I would have gotten a sternly worded letter from someone politely (but disappointedly) asking why I didn’t say anything about their kit. Here we go, starting with…
I am a simple man. You associate something about your team with a remarkable part of your city, and I’ll probably appreciate it. As a kit itself it’s straightforward, but the connection is undeniably cool. Also, it’s very important to note that the Nashville SC hype video accompanied by “God’s Going to Cut You Down” absolutely rules and is one of my favorite MLS things I’ve seen. It’s also more important to note that some covers of Cash songs are included in the kit and you can listen to them now.
As always, we love seeing a team that looks like itself. The green kit just feels appropriately Galaxy. Additionally, the best part of the jersey, the collar design, has a direct connection to the LA city flag. If they somehow linked it to a famous LA citizen or designer, they would have gone three to three on my criteria checklist for “things that automatically make me appreciate a kit a little more.”
The colorway here is outstanding, as is the idea behind it. It looks great and I hope they build on it in the future. I don’t know what a “DC United Secondary Kit” is supposed to look like, but this feels really close. Maybe they could combine the cherry blossoms with DC’s very, very good city flag? I’ll tell you all I’m a sucker for flag based kits.
I won’t lie, I was excited when I first saw Chicago. It was equal parts that I thought it looked pretty good and I was amazed at how much they did just went for it Here. The geometric designs and centered logo all pay off very well and contrary to my normal opinion should look even better with a final sponsor. Oh I guess the colors are based on the state flag right? Damn, they got me again. I’m powerless here, all of you.
All you really need to do with a primary kit is look like yourself and not mess things up. SKC didn’t suddenly decide to make the whole thing black with light blue stripes or something for no reason, so this is a winner. They have one of the best visual identities in the league; there is no need to deviate from it.
Regardless of what I say, any kit looks great wearing it to win the Concacaf Champions League, Leagues Cup and MLS Cup.
The absolute surest way to make me appreciate your kit is to have Dallas Burn’s Trogdor the Horse-inator electric fire horse logo literally all over your kit. It’s on the back of the collar. So the kit is perfect.
It’s just pretty. RSL is another team that really just needs to stick to their superb colors and they can come up with great kit after great jersey. They have one of the best kit combinations in the league and didn’t have to do anything special. You either have it or you don’t sometimes, you know?