Nike England Home & Away World Cup Kits - Football Shirts

Nike World Cup kits have come thick and fast over the past few weeks but one nation has been missing - England. Today however Nike have released both the home and away strips for the Three Lions. The new home jersey is a pure white whilst the away jersey features a subtle St. George’s cross that can only be seen from distance.

Featuring an engineered pinstripe in the fabric and white satin tape on the shoulders, the home jersey has a distinctive shine that "pays tribute to English Knights". "Designing the kits for the country that invented the game was a real honor for our design team," said Martin Lotti, Nike Football Global Creative Director. "We wanted to pay homage to key moments in England’s proud footballing history." 





"Two references really stood out during the design process for the home kit – that stunning all-white kit England wore in Mexico in 1970 and the idea of the armour of English Knights,” added Lotti. "You can see subtle references to the armour in the pinstripe, which carries a hint of shine, and in the white satin tape on the shoulders."

The famous three lions crest has a metallic weave to create another shimmering effect, most noticable when the crest catches the light. Inside the back of the neck is a pennant tab with a graphic of silver pinstripes that together create a St. George’s cross. The jersey also features a modern v-neck collar. 

The new shorts are classic white with a satin white tape along each side and have a slimmer more tailored fit. The central back section of the shorts features Nike’s signature laser vents to aid in cooling and allow for moisture management.

Nike have collaborated with renowned English typographer Neville Brody to create a new font for the names and numbers on the back of the jersey. "It has been an extraordinary honour to design the fonts for the English jersey", said Brody. "The core inspiration was to focus on the intersection between flair and workmanlike reliability." 

 
Despite clever hidden elements and historical references, both new England kits, like others that have been produced by Nike for Brazil 2014, are quite simple. A request from FIFA asked nations to wear predominantly singled-coloured kits to improve the quality of footage on HD televisions. 

The new England away jersey features a bold red tonal pinstripe design subtly infused with a graphic interpretation of St. George’s cross on the front. The St. George’s cross is an optical illusion and cannot be seen up close, coming into focus only from a distance.

The jersey boasts a unique neckline with a subtle collar desig with the front panel going all the way to the top of the jersey to render the St. George’s cross as large as possible. The England crest features a satin weave base with embroidered lions to create a lustrous effect and uses a bright white with an optical brightener to further enhance its whiteness.

Inside the back of the neck, consistent with the home jersey is a pennant tab, this time with a graphic of red pinstripes that together create a subtle St. George’s cross. The shorts are white with a red tape along each side, and the away socks are red. The new home kit will debut on-pitch in the friendly game with Peru at Wembley on May 30.

The new England 2014 World Cup home and away shirts will be available from selected online stockists including Pro-Direct Soccer. What do you think of the design? Let us know. Join the conversation online, on Twitter and on Facebook.