Image via AS Roma
Designing football kits is a difficult business. They're probably never going to cross over into mainstream culture, and there's always the risk that the only people who will wear them are fat, middle aged men in Sunderland. Despite this, kit manufacturers still give it their best shot.
A lot of designers and companies choose to play it safe, settle for non-offensive kits in the colours they've been given. Nowadays though, with the advent of the inexplicable 'third kit' and more risks being taken on away kits, some teams are getting to wear some pretty nice garms.
Sometimes, the designers and the manufactures don't just settle for being the best of a bad bunch, sometimes they create a kit that's so nice it turns a struggling mid table club into a cult favourite overnight. Here are the 10 nicest kits from around the world for this season.
Rayo Vallecano Away Kit
League: La Liga
Manufacturer: Kelme
The rainbow sash is pretty eyecatching, but its what it all means that really makes this Rayo Vallecano kit a bit special. Each strand of the rainbow represents a different one of Spain's 'social injustices', with cancer (red), disability (orange), depression (yellow), the environment (green), child abuse (blue), domestic violence (pink) and homophobia (the rainbow as a whole) each having a place on the strip. The shirt also features the slogan 'solidarity' and 7€ from each shirt sold goes to the associated charities. Rayo have already got a reputation as some of football's good guys, but this is pretty spectacular.
RC Lens Away Kit
Fiorentina Home Kit
League: Serie A
Manufacturer: Le Coq Sportif
There's something about the Fiorentina kit that always makes it look a bit better than most of the rest, but this year's design is a new high. Its Le Coq Sportif's return to football's big leagues as a manufacturer, and it couldn't have gone any better. Welcome back.
Nottingham Forest Home Kit
League: The Championship
Manufacturer: adidas
No sponsor, 150 year anniversary edition, gold on red. It was only ever going to go one way, wasn't it?
Leeds United Home Kit
League: The Championship
Manufacturer: Kappa
Clean, bold and sponsorless, this Leeds kit is a throwback to when they were the best team in England rather than a national joke.
AS Roma Away Kit
League: Serie A
Manufacturer: Nike
From a distance, it just looks like a classic white kit. Up close, though, you can see a faint map of the city of Rome. Nice touch.
Lazio Away Kit
League: Serie A
Manufacturer: Macron
On the other side of Rome, Lazio have dropped a pretty dope away kit as well. The massive eagle in the middle of the shirt is taken from the special edition anniversary home kit released in January, which quickly became a classic.
AFC Bournemouth Third Kit
League: Premier League
Manufacturer: JD Sports
AFC Bournemouth's rise to the top table of British football is one of the most universally admired stories of recent years. The small club, nice football and young manager have led to pretty much everyone having only nice things to say about them. As if that wasn't enough, they've only gone and released this as their third kit. The bright pink is to show the club's link to Breast Cancer Care, and 5 per cent of all sales from the kit will be donated to the charity.
Universitario Away Kit
League: Peru Primiera Division
Manufacturers: Umbro
The last couple of years have seen Umbro and Universitario combine to produce some sick retro looking kits. The trend continues into this season, and the addition of the single diagonal white line keeps this one a classy affair.
PSV Eindhoven Away Kit
League: Eredivisie
Manufacturer: Umbro
At first glance it all looks pretty standard. Then you see the subtle disjointed hoops and the whole kit takes on a new meaning. Umbro have killed it with this one.