Chelsea have delivered the best collection of the year Inspired by the color blocking of the 1994/95 away jersey
“In football, not everyone competes in the same category” is one of Massimiliano Allegri’s most famous punchlines, referring, of course, to a sports and performance context. At the same time, however, it is a versatile phrase that we like to have fun using to judge and categorize all the collections released each year by sportswear brands and football clubs. Well, at least in the 2025/26 season, Chelsea, together with Nike, chose to belong to a category of its own: the collections they produce, like the latest one, which draws on the club colors from the 1994/1995 season, are simply among the most noteworthy in the football scene.
The Return of the Rebel collection
In the 1994/1995 season, Chelsea, sponsored by Umbro, to avoid frequent kit clashes, introduced an away kit with a color combination never used before: silver and tangerine. This combination was also brought back in the following season (1995/1996) and effectively cemented the tangerine accents that had started to emerge on the Blues’ jerseys in the seasons preceding 1994/1995.
Today, Chelsea and Nike draw inspiration from that season to create a lifestyle collection and several items that will be worn by Liam Rosenior’s players during the pre-match of the upcoming home game against West Ham, reinterpreted in a modern key. The selection includes pre-match jerseys, tracksuits, and the centerpiece of the collection: a remake of a goalkeeper jersey, complete with reinforced elbows. With this piece, Nike intends to continue the project started, in view of the 2026 World Cup, with the Hollywood Keepers collection.
The Blues’ positive streak
The Return of the Rebel collection represents yet another positive note for Chelsea in terms of creativity and lifestyle projects, effectively adding a new chapter to the journey started at the beginning of the 2025/26 season with Chelsea 120 Reimagined Icons. The latter, designed by Jordan Vickors, also included the Gianluca Jacket, which sold out within minutes: an item inspired by the early 2000s Blues, the period when Gianluca Vialli was also playing for the club.
Two collections that confirm Chelsea as one of the clubs most attentive and successful in lifestyle drops and match kits, both with and without the direct support of their technical sponsor Nike, positioning them as a worthy rival to the established adidas–Arsenal duo. Finally, it is interesting to note how this season Chelsea is rediscovering and reviving historic color-blocking, consciously drawing from their archive. It is impossible not to mention the away kit featuring the central three-stripe in green, white, and red, a clear reference to the Hungarian flag, recalling the jersey made in 1974 in tribute to the Magnificent Magyars, the legendary national team in which Ferenc Puskás shone.
