2021 PRIMEBLUE Parley Kits Released By MLS

It feels really good to keep experiencing little moments that remind us of normalcy. One of those things, at least in my soccer jersey-obsessed mind, is specialty MLS kits coming out and fans getting to actually rock them in the stadium. One of the now annual kits that MLS produces dropped this Wednesday were the Parley Kits.

This year’s edition from Adidas are called the PRIMEBLUE jerseys and they are made with 50% upcycled plastic found on shorelines and coastal areas. While I still think it’s counterintuitive to make jerseys that will be worn only once to represent efforts of environmental sustainability, these are nice kits. Like previous years, there are two versions, a light and dark, for each MLS team in their respective games next weekend.

Also like previous years, the Union are given the lighter version of the kit which I always feel like are the weaker looks of the two. They still look good however, with a dark teal trim and light grey/blue base using a scratchy texture that is supposed to represent the upcycled plastic? Or water maybe? Not sure what it is but they don’t look bad. The darker alternative uses the dark teal from the accents of the light kits but with a burnt orange accent. The orange might be too close to red which would be a big no-no for Union kits so the light option was a fine choice for Philly, if it was even a choice they got to make.

I took a shot at designing my own Parley kits this time last year when there were no games and we were all very bored. These look actually pretty similar, which makes me feel good about my design choices. Did Adidas copy me? We may never know. Actually, I know that’s not the case based on what I’ve learned about the long production cycle of adidas jerseys from being involved with the Union Creative Collective.

One of the cool parts of this release is the partnership with Twitter to create a fan “jersey swap.” MLS fans will be able to nominate fellow fans who have made positive impacts in their community using the hashtag #JerseySwapEntry from May 20 to May 28. Winning fans will be notified on Twitter that they won and will receive a game-worn PRIMEBLUE jersey. I know there are so many awesome Union fans who have been doing great things so it won’t be hard for us to find a worthy winner.

The PRIMEBLUE kits come days after MLS released the 2021 Pride warm-up tops which are excellent. Add these to the BY|U secondaries and it’s been a great year for Union kits even if two are league wide. I picked up the Pride jersey at Subaru Park this week so might not get this one just yet, I have a strict one jersey purchase a week rule that I didn’t expect to be this hard to keep. I also just got slightly outbid on a game worn Bedoya Nantes jersey on eBay so my self control when it comes to jerseys is suspect—there’s a good chance the 2021 PRIMEBLUE Union kit ends up in my closet at some point. I can’t wait to see what jerseys they release next week!

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