News article
England Women to debut new sustainability focused kit
The England women’s national team has launched its home and away kits in the build up to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with sustainability and functionality in mind.
The Lionesses will debut the new kit during April’s inaugural UEFA Finalissma against Brazil at Wembley, and during a match against Australia at Brentford FC’s Gtech Community Stadium.
Nike designers ensured sustainability was at the forefront of plans, with materials that have less impact on the planet, constructed in a way that reduced the waste in fabric use. Nike designers boosted marker efficiency – or fabric yield – to 85%, up from 40-50% for the 2019 edition of the Women’s World Cup.
Digital prototyping was also used by the Nike design team to cut down the number of prototype sample kits created – which become waste – by roughly 75% compared to the 2018 World Cup.
The Nike kits worn by England players will be made up of at least 80% recycled material; made of 100% recycled polyester from recycled plastic bottles; and federation crests, Nike ‘Swooshes’ and trims on the uniforms will be made from 100% Nike Grind for the first time.
Nike Grind is a collection of recycled materials developed by Nike that is composed of pre-consumer manufacturing scraps, recycled post-consumer shoes from the Reuse-A-Shoe programme and unsellable footwear.
In a move of inclusivity, England Women’s shorts will be blue after players expressed concerns around periods and wearing white shorts.
The BBC reported that players had discussed wearing white shorts on their periods during England’s winning UEFA Euro 2022 campaign. At the time, the English Football Association (FA) said that the colour of the shorts would not change during the tournament, but would listen to player feedback for future designs.
Image: Nike