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 and select retailers. Then, the complete range arrives via adidas CONFIRMED on July 1.
is no stranger to crafting football kits — his label’s long-running partnership with and its work with 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. 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.
