Real Madrid's new third kit has a design that is almost certainly inspired by a combination of 1980s beat 'em up video game/mid-90s Sunday morning cartoon series Double Dragon (which was awesome), and the Ed Hardy clothing line.
Earlier this summer, adidas unveiled a pair of brand new kits for what is currently their most popular (until Manchester United come in next season) club property. The kits for Real Madrid, one in the traditional white and one in a very vibrant shade of pink, have been well received by the fans thus far. Those two will be joined by a third kit designed in part by Yohji Yamamoto, who is the fashion brain behind the adidas Y-3 brand.
The new third kit is almost entirely black save for the club badge, the sponsor logos, and the adidas stripes. It is based on the same template that was used for the home and away shirts and features a white rugby-style collar with a pair of buttons running down to the chest. The stylized star made of tonal stripes on the front of the shirt is gone and has been replaced by an Ed Hardy-esque pair of dragons that come in from the left side of the shirt but do not continue to the back.
The dragon design, which is more or less watermarked onto the shirt for a subtle effect, is kind of awesome because it's pretty different from what we typically see on soccer kits and an even further departure from Madrid's normal fare. In Yamamoto's normal style when it comes to this sort of thing, the design is ridiculously detailed with every scale, feather, and fiber of hair standing out from the black background.
According to adidas, one of the dragons is the Dragon King, which "symbolizes the greatness, glory and power of the club" while the other, the Dragon Bird, is "an animal that is able to relive in the most hostile situations, represents the clubs resistance, determination and agility on its way to the victory."
The kit also comes with a pair of shiny new boots for the adidas players on Madrid that ply their respective trades in the adizero f50 line of footwear. The boots pick up where Yamamoto's last design left off with a "Japanese imperial lion-dog" covering the upper of each foot.
One side is green while the other is blue, with the former taking the role of Dragon King and the latter in Dragon Bird dress. Like Yamamoto's last boot design, the orange f50 that made its debut last season, the latest look ties in some sci-fi with each dragon's skin torn away to reveal robotic elements and circuitry in a detailed style that looks as though it was transferred straight from the original colored sketches.
And don't worry, Iker Casillas and Keylor Navas, Madrid's keepers won't be left out. The shot-stoppers are getting bright orange-and-black versions of the dragon kit complete with the intertwining beasts on the front of the shirt.