Third kits are BACK in MLS!
At least for the select few, with five clubs featured in the 2024 adidas X MLS Archive Collection. Sporting Kansas City, LA Galaxy, LAFC, Inter Miami CF, and the Portland Timbers are all in on the collection, which features retro stylings brought forward into a modern era.
Each club is getting not only a third jersey, but also a matching track jacket and some mouth-watering pairs of adidas Gazelles for the sneakerheads, decked out in matching kit colors and featuring club word marks on the back tab. The entire production embraces the fashion element of the game. People like to wear their favorite team's jersey even when they're not in the stands with other supporters or watching a game from a pub; why not make some jerseys and accompanying gear that looks just as good on the street as it will on the pitch?
And that's where Courtney Mays comes in. In addition to the new collection, MLS also struck up a partnership with Mays, a fashion stylist whose clientele and past work includes some of basketball's biggest names, including Chris Paul and Sue Bird. The Archive Collection comes with looks and shots styled by Mays to show how the third jerseys and their accompanying elements fit into modern styles and visions of the cities they represent.
"There's something about a soccer jersey that feels cool and nostalgic, whether it's the silhouette; this sort of high V-neck, short-sleeve shirt reminds me a little bit of a vintage tee," Mays told ESPN in an interview on the collection.
Despite confessing to being "new to soccer," Mays quickly found a point of entry for her looks with the retro styles. And despite some initial challenges, like getting familiar with the sizing of authentic soccer jerseys, those limitations soon became tools for tailoring looks to specific models and teams.
The word "model" is only a technicality here because there weren't any professional models used for the shoots. Instead, there are fans on display. LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead and his family make an appearance. And there's even some work done in the vibrant Kansas City Wizards throwback jersey from the grandmother of Mays' partner. All of that is intentional; Mays said she was "adamant about working with real people" for the collection.
The Kansas City jersey is a highlight of the collection and really encapsulates what it seems to be about. It brings back the rainbow and the old Wizards logo, but the zig-zagging pattern of the rainbow itself isn't anything we've seen before on a KC shirt -- a new invention for one of the most MLS-y designs of early MLS.
The Galaxy and Timbers get similar treatments, with LA getting a black-and-dark green split jersey, albeit one separated by a border of four-pointed stars, the big design inflection of their post-Beckham shirts. Portland gets their vintage 70s wordmark and crest, but the jersey itself comes in a dark rose, almost maroon color for the Rose City, which looks outstanding with the gold lettering.
In a promo video for the look, Timbers history is paramount; retired captain Jack Jewsbury explains his connection to soccer in Portland and legendary Timber Clive Charles is held up as a touchstone. Mays herself said she had done a deep dive on all the clubs to see some of their past jersey history.
"I always look back to go forward," she said. "But I think also it was really important to me to lean into the vibe of the city as it is now... how can I represent? Insert Portland, Kansas City. How can I give a little bit of storytelling about what you may be doing when you're wearing the jersey?"
And then, there are the two of the league's newer clubs, Miami and LAFC, whose designs seem to aim to encapsulate their cities than non-existent throwback jerseys. LAFC's look is a play on the creams and browns of the '70s alongside appropriate lettering, while Inter Miami's look is straight out of the '80s and uses some well-worn color palettes for the city.
"The term 'Miami Vice' was thrown around several hundred times" Mays admitted with a laugh.
What will be most important to many fans, of course, is that the jerseys themselves look good, which should be self-evident here. These are some of the most impressive adidas designs for MLS teams to come along in several years, and hopefully more clubs around the league can get in on the act in the future.
In the here and now, there's plenty of MLS fans that are already cooking up ideas for what they're going to wear with their new third kit. And there are also fashion designers whose eyes have been opened to the possibilities those kits represent.
"Will you see some of these soccer kits in an NBA tunnel? Yes," Mays told ESPN. "I think I was introduced to how great they can be as a styling tool ... I will quite literally be using the jerseys to create looks."
In a country where American soccer still craves attention in the broader sports landscape, you could do worse than seeing a few MLS jerseys on a basketball superstar or two in primetime.