This season Eintracht Frankfurt will play in Nike kits for the first time as part of a new partnership announced earlier this year. Both home and away kits pay homage to the club’s rich history and honor past club heritage while looking ahead to the future.

HOME KIT

The classic home kit idesign features the club’s traditional red and black stripes – boasting thinner stripes on the body and the sleeves – with a deep black cuff at the sleeve. The stripes on the front have a tonal chevron graphic in the background to add a modern flourish – replicating the chevron stitching found on the club’s shirts from the early 1960s.

The shirt has a black crew neck collar with a small red V-shape; on the back is a new black panel to boldly display the players’ name and numbers above the black and red stripes.

At the top of this panel beneath the neck are the initials SGE – which stands for Sportgemeinde Eintracht – an early version of the club’s name, which has since become a popular nickname among their supporters.

The new home shorts are black with a thin red stripe along each side. The home socks are black with a red band at the top, the initials SGE are proudly displayed once again on the front and there is a wide tonal stripe of chevrons on the back.

AWAY KIT

The away kit honors the most glorious and important moment in the club’s history to date.

In June 1959, Eintracht Frankfurt became the champions of Germany for the first and only time by beating Kickers Offenbach 5-3 in the final in front of a crowd of 75,000 at the Olympic stadium in Berlin. Fifty-five years ago, Eintracht Frankfurt wore white shirts in that momentous final, and this season will wear a striking modern interpretation of that design.

The new away shirt is a clean and crisp white with deep black cuffs at the sleeve, and a black constructed crew-neck collar with a small black V-shaped insert.

The kit also pays homage to the traditional colours red, black and white, which were worn by the eldest Eintracht predecessor Victoria Frankfurt in 1899. After Victoria and Frankfurter Kickers united in 1911 to Frankfurter Fußballverein, the merger with Turngemeinde created the football club Eintracht Frankfurt in 1920.

As per the home shirt, the back of the away shirt carries the initials SGE. The new away shorts are white with a thin black stripe along each side. The away socks are white with a black band at the top, the initials SGE proudly displayed once more on the front and a wide tonal stripe of chevrons on the back.

While this new kit features Nike’s signature design details, it also offers players the very latest in performance innovation, kit technology and environmental sustainability.

NIKE DRI-FIT TECHNOLOGY

Nike Dri-Fit technology draws sweat away from the body to the exterior of the shirts and shorts where it quickly evaporates. This helps players to perform at their absolute best by remaining cooler, drier and more comfortable.

The laser-cut ventilation holes and mesh panels featured in key areas of the kit are designed to increase air circulation to the players’ bodies to  help regulate their temperatures throughout ninety minutes on the pitch.

The kits are made of a new dual-knit fabric consisting of both cotton and recycled polyester, which as well as removing sweat offers a softer feel and an overall more flattering appearance.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Nike continues to place environmental sustainability at the heart of their kits, which are again made from recycled polyester this year. These kits have been created to provide both unrivalled performance benefits and lower environmental impact.

The kits are made from recycled plastic water bottles. The shorts are 100 percent recycled polyester; the shirts are 96 percent recycled polyester and the socks are 78 percent.

Each kit is made using an average of 18 recycled plastic bottles, and over the last four years Nike has diverted almost two billion of these bottles from landfills to produce their kits.

By using recycled polyester Nike is also reducing the energy consumed in the entire process by up to 30 percent.

A NEW AND UPDATED PERFECT FIT

Nike took 3D body scans of many of the world’s leading footballers to create a kit with an updated and perfect new fit. The new fit allows the body to move more naturally within the kit, and so effortlessly improves players’ comfort and performance.

The Nike Elite Match fit sock for 2014 also boasts a sleeker and updated design created especially for football.

Nike’s designers spoke to many of today’s elite players to gain an insight in to what they wanted from a sock during a game. There are now strategically cushioned zones to provide comfort and protection around the big toe and the anklebones where the majority of impact occurs, while arch support provides a firm foundation for the foot to prevent any slipping.

There is less material on the sock to enhance players’ touch, while flex grooves on the ankle and top of the foot prevent bunching.