Innovative Kit Design Maximizes Performance Benefits and Reduces Environmental Impact with Recycled Fabric
The new Manchester United club kits showcase a new design approach intended to maximize performance while minimizing environmental impact. The kits highlight Manchester United’s unique heritage with traditional graphics, while incorporating lightweight design and recycled fabric.
The new kits reflect the design innovation and premium detailing demanded by football’s elite players. A combination of renewable fabric sourcing, new design aesthetic and numerous nods to Manchester United’s rich history set a new standard for the club uniforms.
For the first time in the club’s history, the new shirts are made entirely from recycled polyester, with each shirt directly produced from up to eight plastic water bottles found at waste disposal sites in Japan and Taiwan. The bottles are thoroughly cleaned, reduced to tiny flakes, melted into a yarn and spun for kit fabrication. This new manufacturing process reduces energy consumption by up to 30% compared to manufacturing traditional polyester.
With the new manufacturing process, Nike has saved nearly 13 million plastic water bottles, a total of around 254,000 kg of polyester waste that can take up to 500 years to naturally decompose. Every recycled bottle used to make these kits laid from top to bottom would cover over 3,000 kilometers, or 29 football pitches.
The kits allow players to maintain their optimum body temperature and perform at their peak on the pitch by helping keep them dry and cool. The new Nike Dri-FIT fabric, 13% lighter than previous kits, helps to quickly evaporate moisture by drawing it to the surface to enhance breathability by up to 7% more than previous versions. The innovative ventilation zones along each side of the jersey, below the waistband and near the base of the spine on the shorts, significantly increases air penetration to keep players cooler.
“We’re continually evolving our kit design for the world’s elite clubs and the new Manchester United unveil is a proud moment for Nike,” said Phil Dickinson, Nike Global Football Creative Director. “The Club’s deep tradition perfectly complements our innovative design and manufacturing process.”
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The jersey’s new dynamic fit and double knit structure gives it a sleeker appearance, while offering 10% more stretch than the last Manchester United jersey. The jersey silhouette follows the body’s natural contours for maximum movement and airflow.
This season Manchester United will return to playing in a red shirt with a traditional white collar, an evocative combination worn by the greatest sides in the club’s history; the Busby Babes, the holy trinity of Law, Best and Charlton, and the 1999 Treble winners.
The body of the shirt is red with a white polo-neck collar, while on both shoulders is a white stripe consisting of red and black half chevrons, and on the left sleeve is a Red Devil from the club crest. On the back of the shirt below the neck is ‘MUFC’ while across most of the back is an engineered mesh of perforated holes in the shape of a shattered chevron, which is designed to cool the spine.
The chevron, replicating the pattern United wore on their shirts when Old Trafford was first opened exactly 100 years ago, is featured prominently on the torso of last year’s home shirt and has been retained and subtly integrated in to this kit. There is also a thin black stripe on the hem, and a spilt on each side to give the shirt a more fashionable appearance, while also being more forgiving for players on the pitch.
Inside the shirt, on the back of the club crest, is a graphic that reads ‘Believe’, the simple and inspiring message behind two of United’s greatest triumphs of the modern era. In 1999 United ran newspaper advertisements with the message ‘Believe’ on the morning of United’s victory over in Barcelona, and two years ago in Moscow the same message was displayed on cards held up by United fans before their victory over in the final.
The home shorts this season are white with a black stripe containing white and red half chevrons on each side, with the Red Devil from the club crest on the bottom of the right side. The new home socks are black with a red top and a white ergonomic chevron on the back of each calf.
Manchester United’s new away kit also returns to the club’s traditional away colors of white and black, which have been worn throughout their history, and are the preference of the United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
The new away shirt possesses the same distinctive features as the home version, but has a white body and a round-neck collar. On both sleeves of the shirt is a bold splash of color in the form of a black and red graphic divided by a jagged white chevron, which gives the shirt an intimidating and warrior-style appearance.
The away shorts this season are black with a white stripe containing black and red half chevrons on each side, with the Red Devil from the club crest at the bottom of the right side. The new home socks are white with a black top and a red ergonomic chevron on the back of each calf.
This season additional leading clubs, including Arsenal, Glasgow Celtic and Inter Milan will be wearing the most eco-friendly and technologically advanced kit in football history.
The new Manchester United club kit will be available in August 2010. The replica jerseys are prized at Rs. 2,995/-
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