Y-3 Outfits the Japan Football Association With Jerseys and Culturewear
Marking the first time that Yohji Yamamoto has worked with Japan’s national football team.
Update: Yohji Yamamoto and adidas’ collaborative Y-3 line has served up boundary-pushing sportstyle designs for over two decades now. Expanding on this, Y-3 has teamed up with the Japan Football Association to assemble on-pitch kits and thematic “Culturewear.” The blue flame “Home” jersey leaked earlier this month and is joined by a white and red “Away” kit with matching shorts accompanying both. These motifs carry onto the off-pitch range as well — covering long sleeve pre-match jerseys, a reversible souvenir jacket, scarf and more. Release begins with a pre-launch drop of the on-pitch designs on June 22 via adidas and select retailers. Then, the complete range arrives via adidas CONFIRMED on July 1.
Original Story: Yohji Yamamoto is no stranger to crafting football kits — his Y-3 label’s long-running partnership with Real Madrid and its work with Palace are proof of that — but his latest effort around the beautiful game is the closest to home yet. Yamamoto created the 2024 kits for Japan’s national football team, and the team’s forthcoming home shirts have just begun leaking on football fan pages.
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The Japanese national squad has long been known as “Samurai Blue,” and Yamamoto’s design riffs off that name with an ultra-dark navy base, several shades deeper than the more royal blue used on Japan’s 2022 international kits and the sky blue present on its centenary kits from 2021. Atop this rich blue base sits a simmering blue flame that burns at its hottest down near its bottom hem but also creeps all the way up onto the front left shoulder, using a similar sublimated style as seen on the aforementioned Real Madrid and Palace kits. Final details are provided by Japan’s football crest and a Y-3 logo on the center chest.
It’s also worth noting that flame graphics have long had a special place in the team’s heritage: in 1998, the first year they qualified for the World Cup, they wore now-legendary flame-embellished jerseys</a from ASICS.
Seeing as the kits have yet to be officially revealed, there’s no further info on what Yamamoto’s other tops or bottoms look like at the time of writing. Stay tuned for more updates as they’re made available.
