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8 months ago
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Photo Copyright Nike
Nike and the National Women’s Soccer League unveiled a league-wide kit refresh on Tuesday for all 14 teams, bringing bespoke designs to each primary jersey following a new design process meant to create bolder, more unique kits.
It is the first time in NWSL history that every kit — 28 total — has been changed over for a new season, and the first time in Nike’s history that a women’s soccer league has been given a league-wide reset.
Among the bold designs are San Diego Wave FC’s orange, pink and turquoise top — meant to reflect the city’s gorgeous sunsets over the Pacific Ocean — and the Orlando Pride’s “citrus kit,” defined by large oranges, a major industry in central Florida.
All 14 primary jerseys are custom-designed to tell stories about their local communities. There is Racing Louisville FC’s lavender-and-white argyle, inspired by the shirts jockeys where ahead of the 150th anniversary of the Kentucky Derby in May. The Chicago Red Stars have returned to their roots with a “lake-hued” blue jersey that features nine varying stripe patterns converging at the crest. The design symbolizes the city’s neighborhoods coming together according to Nike.
Photo Courtesy of Nike
The new, more customized designs are part of a league-wide reset in the process with Nike, which The Equalizer first reported last year. The NWSL relaxed a previous rule requiring teams to have a white alternate kit, instead following the FIFA requirements of one “dark” kit and one “light” kit. White jerseys are almost entirely gone from the 2024 collection, and white shorts have been eliminated completely “with an overwhelming majority of NWSL players providing feedback that white shorts are a distraction on the pitch when facing potential leakage from their periods.”
Now, team kit combinations are bursting with colors. San Diego complements the sunset-inspired primary jersey with an unmistakable magenta secondary kit. The Wave’s foes to the north, Angel City FC, will wear a light pink (“Sol Rosa”) secondary kit to accompany a black kit that features the wings from the club crest subtly overlayed on the jersey. The Washington Spirit, currently in the middle of a drawn-out rebrand, will wear a highlighter yellow secondary kit that further clues in what the team’s new identity will look like.
Photo Courtesy of Nike
The secondary kits all look fairly similar league-wide, which will remind fans of the early days of the NWSL that were defined by template jerseys. Nike and the NWSL say the gradient themes “speak to the strength of the collective… as a reminder that soft and fierce can happily co-exist.” The secondary kits will only be in use for one year.
Next year, all secondary kits will be replaced with bespoke designs like this year’s primary kits. That will reset the cycle and establish two-year rotations that are on par with global soccer standards. Primary kits and secondary kits will each be rotated in offset, two-year cycles, meaning each team will get at least one new kit each year. (The current primary kits will be used in 2024 and 2025; the secondary kits that launch next year will be used in 2025 and 2026). There could be some exceptions due to circumstances like the Washington Spirit’s impending rebrand.
Two years is about how long is now required for the design process, which starts with an intake form from club representatives and evolves into a collaborative discussion and mock designs from Nike’s team to bring to life each team’s idea. Teams are already deep into the design stage for 2026 kits. Multiple sources confirm that teams will have the option for third kits in 2026.
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