Umbro is back – Celebrating a Century
As Umbro marks its centenary, we spotlight how they’ve set the standard for collaborations in the first half of 2024.
Words by Josh Williams
A top player this season, Umbro’s 2024 has been filled with nothing but hits. So saying that they are back isn’t necessarily true. The real reason behind their recent revival is that Umbro is celebrating 100 years this year, so expect even more from them before the end of 2024.
The first collaboration we wanted to go through comes from Palace. Their last Umbro collab was back in 2022 — time really flies, but they are back together with another collaborative capsule that featured so much heat it was worth reconsidering your financial decisions. Much like the first venture together this one sold out in less than a few hours.
The real beauty of this collab is the versatility to mix and match individual items together to create various outfits. You can get the matching tracksuit, or pair the pants with a jersey or a crewneck, and so on — another successful venture for this pairing.
Another heavy hitter from Umbro is in the form of their collaboration with Korean brand Sedan All Purpose. Before we touch on this, it’s highly recommended that you start to familiarise yourself with streetwear brands from Asia. This collaboration featured a track jacket and jersey, plus a matching set of pants to go along with this one. This was launched exclusively in Korea unfortunately, but it’s not the end of the world — maybe it’s for the best so we can save our hard earned money. The jacket is great, coming with a couple of drawstrings at the bottom that allow you to tighten the waist level. The jerseys are clean and available in two enjoyable colours — loving that little hint of the Opel logo. Overall it’s a collection that’s reminiscent of the 90’s Umbro football kits. A trend that’s certainly having it’s moment and seemingly shows no signs of slowing down any time soon — a trend that Umbro has welcomed with a warm embrace, especially so when it comes to it’s collaborators.
Furthering the ongoing dialogue between football, sportswear and global street trends, Umbro has teamed up with Slam Jam to create the ‘Penalty Culture’ collection, an ode to the three main cultural vectors with strong roots in the UK and Italy. A bold statement incorporated into sports essentials such as jackets, t-shirts, pants and accessories. Bold, vibrant patterns, silhouettes & colours are featured throughout.
As part of there Centenary celebrations, Umbro have also teamed up with London-based luxury streetwear brand Aries, for a third instalment of their much-celebrated collaboration.
