Adidas is rekindling its relationship with AS Roma, having reached an agreement with the Giallorossi that will see them replace New Balance as the club’s principle kit manufacturer. From the 2023-24 season onwards the brand’s famous three stripes will feature on Roma’s men, women, youth, and Esports kits.
The German sportswear giant announced their reunion with a teasing video with the caption: ‘all roads lead to two colours… DAJE 🟡🔴”.
The video showcased their trademark logo with different Roma scarves.
Adidas reunites with Roma after two decades
Roma will wear Adidas for the first time since 1993/94, as such the younger fans aren’t much familiar with the iconic kits of yesteryears. Accordingly, the capital club took the mantle of taking fans through memory lane on their site.
The first time Adidas and Roma combined to produce the famous gold and carmine tops was in 1978. The most popular Roma kits of all time also come from the Adidas era of 1991-1994, with the likes of Rudi Voeller, Thomas Haessler, and Giuseppe Giannini in the kit still fresh in the minds of the stylish city of Rome.
Most memorable of the lot remains Rome’s favourite son Francesco Totti, who made his debut in Serie A in 1993 at 16 wearing an Adidas top.
We certainly can’t wait to see what the renewed collaboration would bring to the table for the new stars of Stadio Olimpico.
The streets of Rome apparently celebrated the link-up, with @LupaASRoma sharing a video that shows stores gate dripped in Roma’s carmine colour with Adidas’s gold logo. The pug marks with precisely three lines were also notable.
— Classic Football Shirts (@classicshirts) July 3, 2023
An Adidas crest on one side and a she-wolf (an allusion to the founding myth of Rome) on the other explains why some fans still reminisce about those kits. In particular, the third kit with deeper purple colour and golden logos and branding, including the Barilla (principal sponsor) fonts catches the eyes in an instant.
Fans believe Adidas and Roma have struck gold with this partnership. Twitter user Phil Delves suggested if the German brand can give Roma the same focus as Arsenal – who have in recent years produced some of the best kits in European football – then there isn’t going to be much competition left in the shops. To be fair, it’s hard to disagree with the suggestion!
The date for the official launch remains unknown for the moment, but some leaks from a photoshoot – supposedly held in May – have surfaced.
The said photoshoot shows the likes of Paulo Dybala, Lorenzo Pellegrini, and Bryan Cristante wearing the new 2023-24 kit. The image isn’t clear enough to put the fingers on details, but Adidas’ trademark three strips are visible from afar.
Both the club and the manufacturer need to make sure they do justice to this iconic partnership and produce a worthy promotional video. It’d certainly be exciting if they can somehow figure out a way to include legendary Jose Mourinho in one of the tops!
