Clubs are releasing too many kits, according to Athens Kallithea

Are too many kits really produced every season? This reflection is the starting point of the latest initiative by Athens Kallithea under the direction of Ted Philipakos, who today announced a major change in the distribution of the club's match kits: new ones will be produced every two seasons, meaning the kits released for the 2024/25 season will also be used for the 2025/26 season. This decision also coincides with the restocking of kits available for sale this season, which had sold out and are now available again due to high demand. An important decision in favor of the environment, which is also threatened by the sports industry with the overproduction of numerous kits every season.

«It seems clear there is gross overproduction in the football industry right now. The market is flooded and fans are drowning. Releasing four or more kits per year, with quality succumbing to quantity. Countless other capsules and collaborations, often uninspired or without meaning. From clubs, there is a desperate drive to capitalize — to be the next Venezia, to squeeze everything out of bloke core before it fades, etc. — while the output is increasingly detached from what people really want or need, increasingly detached from what really represents the culture. Further, there’s an environmental dimension to this overproduction, and our club certainly doesn’t pretend to have the answers to that, but the industry is conveniently ignoring it.»

Ted Philipakos then continued: «Observing this, our instinct is to take a breath, slightly slow down production, confirm we’re making things that we believe in enough to be enduring, and assess the impact of how we work and the best way to move into the future. There are risks associated with this approach, as we could lose both revenue and visibility, which are important to a relatively small and growing club, but ultimately it’s what feels right at the moment. We already felt the 23/24 collection was gone too soon. With the 24/25 collection, we’ve been sold out for months, so there are people still looking for a shirt, and we’re still niche enough that more people out there are discovering us all the time. So, we don’t feel urgency to replace a collection that we love and don’t think has an expiration date. As recently as the ‘90s and even into the ‘00s, some of our favorite clubs would produce a kit to be worn across two seasons. At least for the coming season, AKFC will turn back to that tradition.»

Until the 1990s and mid-2000s, many sportswear brands produced biennial kits for top football clubs. The same clubs that today would find it almost unthinkable to take a step back in this regard: fanbases around the world continue to expand, and the targets to satisfy are growing - the endless collections for Chinese New Year are just one of many examples that could be made. Athens Kallithea's choice represents a fundamental voice in the debate regarding the intersection of fashion and football for one essential reason: if football shirts are truly an item that can be worn on any occasion and paired with any other garment, why is there the incessant need to present new collections instead of focusing fans' attention solely on the match kits? If football shirts are fashion, do fashion collections by brands really serve any purpose?

The Home, Away, and Third versions of Athens Kallithea are available on the club's e-commerce site.