THE NEW FABRIC OF ENGLAND

England’s new home kit for the 2010-2012 season.

Umbro presents England’s future stars wearing England’s new home shirt.
The portrait of modern England. Tailored by Umbro.

England begin their attempt to rectify their poor World Cup showing by qualifying strongly for Euro 2012. Umbro have unveiled the new England home shirt to be worn for the upcoming 2010-2012 season.

Some of the country’s most talented younger players have been used to promote the new jersey with the likes of Rooney, Walcott, Adam Johnson, Joe Hart and Jack Wilshire lining up for the promotional images. We wonder how many of these young stars will be England regulars come the start of Euro 2012.

The new England jersey is once again ‘Tailored by Umbro’ and features a wider neckline – very similar to that used on the England away shirt – opposed to the previous home jersey’s polo collar. The most stand-out feature however is the new multicoloured shoulder panels. The shirt features dozens of tiny St Georges’ Crosses in a multitude of different colours on the shoulder panels.

This was the idea of legendary pop-artist Peter Saville who designed the new jersey. His explanation is that this design encapsulates the diversity of modern England. With players from a multitude of different heritages pulling on the new England Shirt, Saville believes this is a chance to represent the modern England and celebrate it’s variety of cultures, dispelling the myth that England is a nation comprised of people ‘sitting in pubs, drinking ale and eating roast beef’.

The home kit is rounded off with royal blue shorts – which deviates from last years’ all white kit. Umbro and England’s previous designs have relied heavily on darker navy blues, so a brighter blue is an interesting change. Umbro have also changed their logo from red to a royal blue colour to match the famous Three Lions on the badge.

The goal keepers will wear an all black kit, accented by the bright purple piping. The cut is very innovative on both the Home jersey and keeper’s jersey and that really comes through with the piping.

We also like the new ‘Anthem Jacket’ Umbro have created for fans.

We think the new Ladies goal keeper jersey is rather striking. In fact David James would probably look at home in this. He wore a similar colour last season for Portsmouth.

The full range of the England kit including the Anthem Jersey and Ladies Keeper jersey is available to buy from October the 12th 2010. The new kit will debut against Bulgaria this Friday the 3rd of September in England’s first Euro 2012 qualifier!

Exploring the concept behind his New Fabric Of England patterns, iconic graphic designer Peter Saville talks briefly about the idea that inspired it.

You can read more about the graphic at http://www.umbro.com