There is something achingly poetic about Adidas choosing this moment to resurrect one of football’s most beautiful shirts.
The German brand launched the Italy 1970s remake jersey as part of its Bring Back collection.
It’s a royal blue throwback to an era when the Azzurri were genuine giants of the world game.
The shirt was officially unveiled by Alessandro Del Piero at Adidas’s ‘Unexpected’ show during Milan Fashion Week.
It features a clean, plain royal blue design, the 1970s-era FIGC shield, and the white Trefoil logo on the chest.
Made in partnership with the FIGC, the top is constructed to capture the essence of the ’70s, with fabric, trims, and logos meticulously crafted to resemble vintage product.
The material feels thin, almost cotton-like, somewhere between a lightweight wool and lyocell blend, giving it that soft, worn-in quality that mass-produced modern kits simply cannot replicate.
This is a shirt that carries the weight of history.
In that era, the Azzurri were captained by legends — players like Franco Baresi, Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Donadoni, and Paolo Maldini graced the blue of Italy in shirts not far removed from this one.
Which makes the price all the more frustrating.
At £90, Adidas is charging a premium that feels difficult to justify. Nostalgia, it turns out, is expensive.
It is also worth noting that Adidas was not Italy’s official kit supplier during the 1970s. The original shirts were made by local Italian brands. So what you are buying is not quite history. It is Adidas’s carefully curated interpretation of it.
Meanwhile, the Azzurri themselves are navigating a far messier reality.
Italy finished as runners-up in UEFA Group I, behind a dominant Norway side, and have been forced into the play-offs.
They face Northern Ireland in the play-off semi-final on March 26, and if they progress, a final away from home on March 31 against either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Italy have now missed two consecutive World Cups, in 2018 and 2022, and the spectre of a third straight absence haunts every training session under Gennaro Gattuso.
The jersey, then, is both celebration and gamble. Buy it, and you are betting on Italy’s past. Whether their future includes a World Cup this summer remains very much an open question.
The Adidas Italy 1970s Remake Jersey is available now at adidas.co.uk, FIGC stores, and selected retailers.
