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Liverpool fans were generally happy about the new deal the club signed with Nike that would see the American sportswear giant to produce their kits starting with the 2020-21 season, with more money for the club and better availability the main positives.
However, for many there was an undeniable negative: kit templates. With both Nike and rivals Adidas, fans have bemoaned the way kits for different clubs often look the same, with one team’s third shirt becoming another team’s home jersey with the colours swapped.
Of course, it’s worth noting that New Balance also worked with templates, but with so few clubs being signed to them and Liverpool by far the biggest, there was often a feeling of uniqueness even when a kit perhaps wasn’t universally loved by the fanbase.
And now, we’ve learned that Nike will in fact be putting the templated approach behind them just in time for Liverpool’s new kits with their new supplier.
We're ditching the templates. For the 2020 kits, Nike designers had 65 chassis options available to them across varying necklines, sleeves, cuffs, badge placement, etc. From hand-drawn prints to custom fonts, each team’s look will be its own.
— Heidi Burgett (@heidiburgett) February 5, 2020
The new approach will still see standard elements used, but rather than the entire shirt being based on a template there will be building blocks—and lots of them.
Sixty-five base shirts with different cuff, collar, and trim options that can be mixed and matched, plus the potential for the use of unique elements and sometimes even hand-drawn detailing.
None of which guarantees that Liverpool will get a kit that everybody loves. In fact, it would be a shock if they did get that. But what it appears they will get is a a kit that is a Liverpool kit and nothing and nobody else’s.