Football jerseys are about to look different The revolution has already begun

Spotting something new is the hardest part of our job. It means picking up on a few clues and figuring out that a brand could, sooner or later, introduce a new aesthetic element. And the first international break of the 2026/27 season gave us one of those clues. In all honesty, this time it did not require any in-depth research. All it took was opening Juventus' Instagram profile and stumbling across a photo that immediately made us ask ourselves a question: is the design of football jerseys about to change?

Could adidas Climacool+ change the design of football jerseys?

The carousel features Kenan Yildiz wearing an adidas jersey, his technical sponsor. It is a white shirt with a gradient effect that blends three different shades of blue across the lower section. At the centre is the number 10, set in the font used by the brand for the 2026 World Cup. The real standout feature, however, is the pattern across the upper section of the jersey: a raised texture made up of evenly arranged ellipses.

This is the latest evolution of ClimaCool technology, known as CLIMACOOL+. The system is designed to create a physical space between the player's skin and the fabric, improving both airflow and sweat evaporation. It is obviously a prototype, but only as far as football is concerned. The same design made its debut on the courts of Wimbledon, worn by Alexander Zverev in the final against Jannik Sinner.

How will football jersey design change?

It is only a matter of time before this technology makes its debut on a football pitch. Climacool is one of adidas' flagship technologies: it has already made an impact in Formula 1 with a thermal jacket worn by Mercedes drivers in extreme heat and, as we have seen, has already made its way into tennis. Football is adidas' flagship sport, so it is difficult to imagine the brand not working on a jersey built around the same principle: a more performance-driven solution designed to improve lightness, breathability and comfort.

The real challenge, however, will be finding a balance between this pursuit of performance and the stylistic integrity of football jerseys. Introducing a design like this on a Home jersey means, quite simply, challenging some of the sport's most deeply rooted visual codes. To do so, it is not enough to adapt an existing technology: the way we think about a football jersey needs to be reconsidered altogether.

While a jersey is also designed for fans, who are ultimately the ones buying it, its development should be driven above all by what happens on the pitch. Performance therefore becomes the guiding principle: an increasingly technical, lightweight and integrated construction, within which there is still an attempt to preserve what we recognise as a football jersey. This is a revolution that goes beyond materials or the way a jersey is constructed. It is about rethinking what the jersey itself means. And, in a sense, that revolution has already begun.