Arsenal’s two new retro kits are throwing fans into the past, but not in the same way.
This week, Adidas and Nike dropped dueling tributes to Arsenal’s ’90s-era shirt legacy. Adidas took a purist’s route, reissuing the club’s 1992–94 home shirt with all its iconic details intact. Meanwhile, Nike teamed up with British-Jamaican designer Martine Rose to release a high-fashion reinterpretation of the 1994–96 kit it once made for Arsenal. One is a faithful time capsule. The other reimagines what a football shirt could be.
The Adidas version is straight from the archives. It’s got the rich red torso, the bold JVC sponsor, the classic Adidas Equipment logo, and white sleeves striped in navy and red. The club crest sits on the chest exactly as it did in the George Graham years, when Arsenal lifted the FA Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup. Adidas even replicated the original puff-print texture for the logos, right down to the raised lettering. This isn’t a tribute. It’s the same shirt, re-released for a new generation.
Nike’s effort with Martine Rose couldn’t be more different. Instead of a lightning-bolt jacquard pattern, her version uses a globe of interlinked swooshes. JVC becomes MRS—short for Martine Rose Sport—plastered across the front in block white text. The old crest is tweaked too, with Rose’s branding stitched in. Even the colors get a remix: alongside a traditional red version, the shirt also arrives in green and baby blue, paired with matching shorts. It’s loud, deliberate, and meant for the runway as much as the terraces.
A club’s past, two paths forward
The 1992–94 shirt Adidas revived is remembered as much for its aesthetic as its era. It was the shirt of Ian Wright, of Wembley in ’93, of Arsenal’s first European trophy in decades. For fans who lived through it, the reissue hits the sweet spot of nostalgia. And for those too young to remember, it’s an entry point to a time when football shirts had a certain weight—literally and culturally.
The Nike x Martine Rose project has a different energy. It draws less from football history and more from the idea of football culture as fashion. Rose has made a habit of genderless tailoring and subverting sportswear. Her Arsenal-inspired kit sits at that intersection. It honors the original only loosely. But it does something the Adidas reissue doesn’t: it turns the shirt into a conversation starter.
That’s why these two drops arriving days apart feels so pointed. Adidas leans into memory. Nike is chasing cultural capital. One release says: remember this? The other says: imagine this. Even the marketing channels told a story.
Adidas rolled out Wright and Arsenal first-teamers. Nike teased it with fashion editorial shots and no confirmed drop date.
Online, fan reactions split just as sharply. The Adidas reissue has been almost universally embraced. Supporters see it as a gift—especially those who’ve long hunted vintage versions for hundreds of dollars on resale sites. The Martine Rose collab has stirred more debate. Some called it a clever remix. Others saw it as a reach. Either way, it’s working. Everyone’s talking.
That’s the power of these shirts. They’re more than merchandise. They’re artifacts, arguments, identity. And in a moment when Arsenal is both culturally hot and historically deep, there’s room for both versions of the past—especially when they come dressed this well. Arsenal’s two new retro kits are throwing fans into the past, but not in the same way.
