On the Meaning of Contemporaneity: Kappa Kombat's 25th anniversary How a surf suit redefined football aesthetics
Contemporaneous. From Late Latin contemporaneus: cum - with, tempus - time. Something that exists or lives at the same time.
It is not only a challenging task for linguists and philosophers to define the term "contemporary" in a time when what happened 5 years ago is already old and what is happening right now could be overtaken within a short time. Technology has led to a re-evaluation of the concept of newness and obsolescence, challenging us to figure out what might happen next, what is beyond the hedge, on the server. Thus, humanity’s great obsession with imagining the future becomes a unique challenge – a mission that highlights the shining moments of genius across time and history. In the realm of football, envisioning the future is particularly difficult, as the sport remains (fortunately?) tied by a thin yet resilient thread to its original, romanticized form. When considering the idea of new football — something competing with both Fortnite and the Kings League — people have sought to challenge it with new norms and rules, whether by introducing fresh competition or altering its design, which reshapes the sport’s visual identity. More than anything, however, these changes reflect the passage of time. Jerseys, in particular, have the power to mark eras and act as visual folders where fans store memories of events, victories, and players.
If there was ever a moment when design radically transformed the aesthetic of football matches, it was Euro 2000. The tournament, held in Belgium and the Netherlands, was perhaps the pinnacle of Italian football aesthetics. All the strongest players of the last 30 years were at their prime: along with the headbands that caught the wet hair of Maldini, Nesta, Cannavaro, and also Totti, a second before the “spoon” stopped being just a cutlery for soups and broths. What characterised this moment the most was the unveiling of the Kappa Kombat, a model worn by the Italian national team that will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2025. This milestone invites us to reflect on the meaning of contemporaneity by looking to the past. At the time, it was considered an extravagant stylistic invention. But it then became, in later years, a solid design that has accompanied the successes of so many clubs and the grand gestures of numerous champions. The Kombat symbolises the moment when product design, with the study of the fabrics and volumes of the human body, entered football and changed its aesthetic component. The tight-fitting model, inspired by surfing suits, revolutionized football through design. It came through an unexpected back door, when the focus was more on the game and less on kits and their variety, the launch campaigns, and sports entertainment.
Like any vision that combines innovation and avant-garde thinking, the Kappa Kombat was immediately appreciated by enthusiasts, yet also regarded as something of an oddity, a glitch in the system. Its significance lies precisely in this tension between understanding and its opposite: a disruption in the definition of contemporaneity. The Kappa Kombat was both perfectly suited to its time and a step ahead of it. Even today, when viewed with the same attentive eyes, it feels just as relevant and forward-thinking. So, what does it truly mean to “live in the same time”? Genius works are timeless, contemporary while not fully understood within their own era. They leave a window open. One that can only be filled as time passes, gradually leading to a more advanced stage of understanding the phenomena they embody.
EURO 2000 and Kappa’s work in football represented, at the time, a challenge to the status quo – an effort to reimagine athletes and the rules of the game through the eyes of designers. It was a precise anticipation of the trend that would later lead dozens of designers to incorporate football jerseys into their collections, collaborate with brands and clubs, and attempt to understand what it truly means to live in our time.
Les Vêtements de Football – The Golden Age of Football Jerseys is a project by nss sports dedicated to the golden age of football jerseys.
The book is available for purchase on our e-commerce at this link.
