Fashion

Nostalgia now

Introducing the adidas Icons collection: somehow it’s old school and modern all at the same time

WORDS Paul McNamara
Issue 15

‘New retro’ – can that even be a thing? It seems like it could be dangerous pairing two words together like that; they’ll argue all the time and it will get heated. Still, we’re going to use it. Plus, it gives us the chance to use the word ‘oxymoron’ in a sentence, which is a sure-fire way to make our English teachers really proud.

Anyway, the reason we ask: adidas has introduced a new retro line of clothing, which it’s calling the Icons collection. It features 1990s-inspired replica designs for a host of European powerhouse clubs and indulges in a deliberate crossover between football performance and streetwear culture; shirts, tracksuits and shorts are the featured items. 

‘New retro’ – can that even be a thing? It seems like it could be dangerous pairing two words together like that; they’ll argue all the time and it will get heated. Still, we’re going to use it. Plus, it gives us the chance to use the word ‘oxymoron’ in a sentence, which is a sure-fire way to make our English teachers really proud.

Anyway, the reason we ask: adidas has introduced a new retro line of clothing, which it’s calling the Icons collection. It features 1990s-inspired replica designs for a host of European powerhouse clubs and indulges in a deliberate crossover between football performance and streetwear culture; shirts, tracksuits and shorts are the featured items. 

Read the full story
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Real Madrid and Manchester United are among the clubs whose kits have been revamped in the style of the adidas Equipment era, which was early on in said decade. Centralised club badges are paired with those three prominent, diagonal stripes on each side of loose-fitting shirts (none of that skin-tight malarkey in 1992, you see).

The range is aimed at new retro fans: those who cherish football culture but prize the technology of high-performance sportswear. There are probably a few Juventus supporters like that, who can also look to conjure up memories of their 1996 Champions League success – and the Turin club’s white Icon shirt, to use adidas parlance, “shouts football classic”. The imaginative Bayern shirt, meanwhile, is inspired by the German club’s in-your-face mid-’90s away colours – gold, green and black all feature prominently. 

Arsenal’s vintage cannon emblem juts proudly from the middle of a jersey designed to pay tribute to the London club’s double domestic cup success in 1993; the shirt bears the traditional Arsenal hallmarks of a red trunk and white sleeves, of course. In fact it’s quite possible that if you were to put it on, sit down and close your eyes, you could access a time portal and be transported right back to Highbury. All aboard the New Retro Express!

‘New retro’ – can that even be a thing? It seems like it could be dangerous pairing two words together like that; they’ll argue all the time and it will get heated. Still, we’re going to use it. Plus, it gives us the chance to use the word ‘oxymoron’ in a sentence, which is a sure-fire way to make our English teachers really proud.

Anyway, the reason we ask: adidas has introduced a new retro line of clothing, which it’s calling the Icons collection. It features 1990s-inspired replica designs for a host of European powerhouse clubs and indulges in a deliberate crossover between football performance and streetwear culture; shirts, tracksuits and shorts are the featured items. 

Fashion

Nostalgia now

Introducing the adidas Icons collection: somehow it’s old school and modern all at the same time

WORDS Paul McNamara

Text Link

‘New retro’ – can that even be a thing? It seems like it could be dangerous pairing two words together like that; they’ll argue all the time and it will get heated. Still, we’re going to use it. Plus, it gives us the chance to use the word ‘oxymoron’ in a sentence, which is a sure-fire way to make our English teachers really proud.

Anyway, the reason we ask: adidas has introduced a new retro line of clothing, which it’s calling the Icons collection. It features 1990s-inspired replica designs for a host of European powerhouse clubs and indulges in a deliberate crossover between football performance and streetwear culture; shirts, tracksuits and shorts are the featured items. 

‘New retro’ – can that even be a thing? It seems like it could be dangerous pairing two words together like that; they’ll argue all the time and it will get heated. Still, we’re going to use it. Plus, it gives us the chance to use the word ‘oxymoron’ in a sentence, which is a sure-fire way to make our English teachers really proud.

Anyway, the reason we ask: adidas has introduced a new retro line of clothing, which it’s calling the Icons collection. It features 1990s-inspired replica designs for a host of European powerhouse clubs and indulges in a deliberate crossover between football performance and streetwear culture; shirts, tracksuits and shorts are the featured items. 

Read the full story
Sign up now to get access to this and every premium feature on Champions Journal. You will also get access to member-only competitions and offers. And you get all of that completely free!

Real Madrid and Manchester United are among the clubs whose kits have been revamped in the style of the adidas Equipment era, which was early on in said decade. Centralised club badges are paired with those three prominent, diagonal stripes on each side of loose-fitting shirts (none of that skin-tight malarkey in 1992, you see).

The range is aimed at new retro fans: those who cherish football culture but prize the technology of high-performance sportswear. There are probably a few Juventus supporters like that, who can also look to conjure up memories of their 1996 Champions League success – and the Turin club’s white Icon shirt, to use adidas parlance, “shouts football classic”. The imaginative Bayern shirt, meanwhile, is inspired by the German club’s in-your-face mid-’90s away colours – gold, green and black all feature prominently. 

Arsenal’s vintage cannon emblem juts proudly from the middle of a jersey designed to pay tribute to the London club’s double domestic cup success in 1993; the shirt bears the traditional Arsenal hallmarks of a red trunk and white sleeves, of course. In fact it’s quite possible that if you were to put it on, sit down and close your eyes, you could access a time portal and be transported right back to Highbury. All aboard the New Retro Express!

‘New retro’ – can that even be a thing? It seems like it could be dangerous pairing two words together like that; they’ll argue all the time and it will get heated. Still, we’re going to use it. Plus, it gives us the chance to use the word ‘oxymoron’ in a sentence, which is a sure-fire way to make our English teachers really proud.

Anyway, the reason we ask: adidas has introduced a new retro line of clothing, which it’s calling the Icons collection. It features 1990s-inspired replica designs for a host of European powerhouse clubs and indulges in a deliberate crossover between football performance and streetwear culture; shirts, tracksuits and shorts are the featured items. 

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