ENGLAND 2012 HOME SHIRT TAILORED BY UMBRO

I've written on numerous occasions very highly of Umbro's recent gear, and the "Tailored by Umbro" England shirts are so on point. I'm always excited for the new release and today they dropped the 2012 Home kit. And it's a big one, as the nation's expectations are fully carried with it into the Euro championships this summer, despite the off-pitch madness surrounding the squad at the moment. Surely, Redknapp will take the role right? But that's all for another day.

The shirt comes in a clean two-toned design, inspired of course by St George. Completely cutting out the unnecessary and totally epitomising the concept of simplicity, it's a really beautiful shirt. Crafted to a slimmer and smarter fit, the technology is all there, ready for players and fans alike. The most interesting of new features is the one button fastener for the collar. Buttoned down it presents as a normal traditional football shirt with a slick red strip at the neck, but turned over, it reveals an intricate stripe in tonal red, based on St George's flag and the iconic 1966 Sir Alf Ramsey jacket.

For me, Umbro continue to impress, and it looks excellent. With all the hard work done on the designers' part, let's hope the players can follow suit. I sure hope so.

UMBRO SPECIALI '92 COLLECTION

Having held the Launch Party last night, Umbro today released their limited Speciali '92 collection to mark the Speciali football boot's 20th anniversary. The boots have been worn by some of football's greats, involved in a number of pretty special goals. They are celebrating with strictly limited quantities of select products, all available in a killer black colourway highlighted effectively by whites and golds to emphasise the collection's exclusivity, of which it has plenty.

The football boot is of course a main attraction, but I do also like the leather Milton Shoe and leather Anthem Jacket, both very special editions of Umbro's more popular items crafted with quality leather. The detail on the jacket's flat rib tonal trim is excellent, it's a super piece. Remember, they've just gone on sale today and numbers are extremely limited!

UMBRO TEE SHOP REMEMBRANCE DAY

The Umbro Tee Shop, now on their 38th week since inception, have continued to bring some great simple football tees, filled with clever visuals and playful phrases, all strictly limited in number and exclusive to their official online store. And with Remembrance Day coming up later this week, they have fittingly released the Remembrance tee, featuring a customised Three Lions England badge to show support for the Poppy Appeal, to which all proceeds will be donated to. It's only just dropped this hour so hurry to checkout to claim yours.

THE UMBRO TEE SHOP

I've already spoken about my fondness for what Umbro are currently doing and their football/lifestyle approach. And this here is just great. I just found out about this, it's the Umbro Tee Shop where they offer very limited t-shirts, showcasing the world's love for football, contributed by top designers.

It's super limited with only 11 pieces available for their weekly designs released every Monday. It certainly helps to cheering up my start of the week for sure. They're priced at a cool £20, available online worldwide, and I am definitely gonna be looking out for one to grab. It's just so brilliant.

ENGLAND AWAY TAILORED BY UMBRO

The new Away jersey was unveiled today, adorned by David Haye in Germany ahead of his upcoming fight. Since Umbro was fully purchased by Nike, they've looked to combine the heritage where they started with needs of the modern game. Working with high-fashion designers, they are now 'tailoring' their shirts to a new level of quality and simplicity, bringing football shirts back to the fabric, back to the core.

The arrival of this new brand of jerseys, publicised most significantly through the England kit, has unfortunately been overshadowed by the national team's unconvincing major campaigns, namely at the World Cup in 2010. Despite attention focusing on the poor footballing performances, the new kits should be hugely welcomed and are something we should be proud of. The 11/12 Away jersey comes predominantly in deep blue, a refreshing change from our standard red choice of colour. It's tipped with a sky blue collar and features very little else, again emphasising the shape and detail of the actual shirt.

I've been really impressed with Umbro's releases and, for me, they are so headed the right direction, recognising exactly what footballers need and what the fans care about.

ENGLAND AWAY UNVEILED

March 3rd is the date of the release of these fine-looking away kits. It has been officially unveiled by UMBRO today, although it was actually revealed for the first time yesterday during Kasabian's live concert in France, as frontman Tom Meighan put it on for the encore. You can watch the scenes below.. Lol at the booing.
The brand new kits will be part of England's dress code for the pitches of South Africa come July. Described as a 'modern classic', the shirt, it embodies beautiful simplicity (somewhat of a theme nowadays on ORIGINAL LONDON.) and uses just three different materials, tailor-made. This reboot of a retro design features a red jersey with gold branding and a relatively large three lions badge, with white cuffs at the end of the sleeves, which I reckon is a love or hate. I think it complements the old style perfectly, thus making me a fan. I think the whole concept of UMBRO's new "Tailored by England" thing is really spot on and according with the style of the nation's lifestyle and football. This kit will be in use until 2012, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in action.


LINKS
UMBRO | England