Major League Soccer’s 31st season is nearly upon us, and fans across the league are busy offering takes. Takes on roster building, on relevance, on playoff potential. And, of course, on kits.
It at times feels like there is nothing soccer fans across the globe like more than discussing kits and kit culture. Supporters, even those entirely bereft of any fashion sense to speak of, start offering up terms normally reserved for the catwalk come release day.
In that spirit, I, a man who can barely dress myself, have taken a shot at assembling what I consider to be the five most interesting MLS kits – good and bad – of the 2026 season.
***
A new old look in San Jose
San Jose’s so-called Dead Kit pays homage to one of modern music’s most influential acts, Bay Area legends the Grateful Dead. The colorful, tie-dye design is complimented by the Dead’s logo, along with the band’s wordmark at the rear of the collar.
The design evokes memories of the Grateful Dead’s previous venture into sports design: their partnership with the Lithuanian men’s basketball team at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. The cash-strapped team ended up being largely funded by the Dead and sported some Dead-themed, tie-dyed warmups in return, going on to win a bronze medal.
San Jose’s new look can also be read as a completely unintentional throwback to another iconic American soccer look, the infamous denim kit sported by the USMNT at the 1994 World Cup. That jersey, designed by Peter Moore – the same man who designed the first Air Jordan shoe – has long been considered among the most outlandish in the history of the sport – but it was very nearly tie-dye. Moore favored denim but his partner, Nike executive Rob Strasser, pushed hard for tie-dye. It’s a good thing he didn’t win out. As former USMNT legend Marcelo Balboa told me some years ago: “None of us would’ve even taken the field in that uniform. I’m not even kidding. There would’ve been a protest and a half.”
Two decades later, things have changed. The USMNT’s own 2024 away kit – dubbed the American Icon Kit – looked a lot like tie-dye. And now, in 2026, the Quakes are thrusting the Bay Area’s flower-power to the forefront.
***
A print gone wrong
A few MLS clubs incorporated graphic prints into their kits this year. The Houston Dynamo’s jerseys feature satellite photography of the city in an attempt to evoke a tie-in to the space program, one of the city’s hallmarks. The New York Red Bulls have gone with some sort of Slim Goodbody motif for their Roooted Kit. Their attempt at a homage to the “roots” of their club instead comes off as a viewable circulatory system.
Perhaps nobody took the print motif further this year than the Philadelphia Union. Ahead of the American semiquincentennial, the Union’s 1776 Kit pays homage to the city’s vital place in US history. It’s emblazoned with all sorts of stuff: the Declaration of Independence, a portrait of Benjamin Franklin, Independence Hall and the American flag. If that wasn’t enough, it also features the iconic “join or die” colonial snake and the actual number 1776, lest you forget what they’re going for here.
Design is subjective, but this thing looks awful. Modern soccer jerseys are more often than not designed to be worn by fans on the street, not players on the pitch, and this thing 100% reads streetwear. It remains to be seen, but I suspect this kit will look positively awful in motion.
Philly’s role as the birthplace of the United States sort of required them to do a 1776 kit, but they missed badly here.
***
A print gone right
Maybe the only team that got the all-over print motif right this year is, unsurprisingly, Los Angeles FC. Year after year, they continue to impress.
Part of that can be attributed to the club’s colors, a black-and-gold palate that looks timeless in almost any application. This year’s kit – which the ad wizards at LAFC are just calling the 2026 Primary Kit – is no exception, incorporating Los Angeles’ rich art deco heritage. The club tried something similar in 2022, but this iteration buries their previous attempt at evoking classic Hollywood glamour.
Like every other MLS kit this year (aside from Montreal’s, mysteriously), the LAFC kit features a unique gimmick: both the Adidas logo and the club’s crest itself are done as lenticular holographs. If you’re unfamiliar with the phrase, think of those “animated” baseball cards you used to see back in the day, where the photograph changes based on the angle of the card. US-based MLS clubs get stars in their crest, while Canadian clubs get leaves. It’s a cool, albeit pointless, gimmick.
***
Another musical collaboration
MLS has a rapidly expanding history of tying music and kit design together.
Seattle, one may say, invented the music tie-in kit with their homage to legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix in 2021. Nashville took their own swing a few years later with their Man in Black Kit, a lovely nod to country music icon Johnny Cash. DC United made their own attempt last year with their Soul Kit, which was ostensibly a nod to the District’s Go-Go scene, and San Jose has the aforementioned Dead kit this year.
St Louis City SC are taking their own swing at things with their Tina Turner Kit. Born in Memphis, the R&B/soul legend spent many of her formative years in St Louis. The team say it is the first time Adidas has partnered with a female artist on a professional kit, and they seem to have done a decent enough job of getting Turner’s energy into the shirt.
The gold, shimmery print is reminiscent of the types of wild, flashy looks Turner wore early in her career – harkening back to her star-making 1970 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The jersey features her signature and silhouette to boot. I don’t know how that motif will look on, say, St Louis defensive midfielder Chris Durkin, but I’m eager to find out.
***
DC yawn-ited
MLS has done better over the years to move away from so-called “clean” design, the lazy process that produced a deluge of white T-shirts season after season. Still, a few teams soldier on. Colorado, Vancouver and Charlotte have all phoned it in this year.
Maybe no entrant is more bland than DC United’s 2026 kit, which they’re dubbing the Black-and-Red Kit, in case you forgot their colors. The lack of effort here borders on the absurd and is present right down to the design blurb the club supplied alongside the shirt. In a world of verbose, overwrought design explainers that border on the absurd, DC’s explainer is about the length of a haiku and somehow says even less.
“The black and red are the pulse of DC United and this kit is a reminder of who we play for when we take the pitch … the fans, the future stars, the legends, and the next generation.”
United’s early kits are among the league’s all-time best, and they’ve had some recent hits as well, including the long-awaited Cherry Blossom kit. This effort feels entirely unambitious – a good fit for a club that hasn’t made the playoffs in nearly a decade.
