By Jay from Design Football
You may have noticed that Paris Saint-Germain released their new Nike away shirt this week.
And very nice it is too. The white base is decorated with a black vertical stripe, broken to make space for the sponsor, and then joined by a larger pink – okay, “Arctic Punch” – stripe on one side above and the other side below.
This is openly a reference to the “Hechter” feature present on most home shirts, so the rationale seems to be that no other pesky club colours need appear on this release – unless we include the Tricolore flag detail inside the neck. The crest is converted, tastefully, to the monochrome and matches the Swoosh opposite, while the alternate-coloured cuffs keep up the asymmetrical stylings.
The socks are in keeping with the proportions of the shirt and whilst I guess this is another year that Nike have forgotten to design the shorts – the worst £35-65 you’ll ever spend – the kit’s a winner. Congrats.
The question is, however, how did the nod to the famous Hechter striping not qualify for the primary release? Especially if we consider the way it’s been played with – to put it politely – on the first-choice shirt over the last decade.
Just take the 2012-13, 2014-15, 2017-18 and 2018-19 variations. And, may I suggest, there’s an argument for this change shirt’s approach to be given a go before we dress up one of PSG – France’s most famous clubs – as the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, dispensing with the Hechter in all but a barely distinguishable embossing in the coming season.
Perhaps Nike are right. Perhaps it doesn’t work in the famous home colours. Let the internet decide.
