FC Internazionale Milano
110th Anniversary Concept Kits

FC Internazionale Milano, or Inter Milan as it's often shortened, was founded on the 9th of March 1908 by a group of friends in a small restaurant right around the corner from the Duomo. This group consisted of Italians and Swiss whose dream was to establish a team in which people from all nationalities were welcome to play together and enjoy football, hence the name, Internazionale. The founding fathers of the club drew inspiration for the kit colours from the sky that night, black and blue.

The past century saw the now iconic black and blue striped home kit appear in all shapes and sizes, with stripes in different number and slightly different shades each year. The only notable deviation coming in recent years is the pinstriped home jersey that the team wore during the 2014/2015 season, inspired by Milan's status as a fashion capital.

Other than that,  kit manufacturers like Nike rely on the tried and tested. When it comes to the away and third kits there's more creative freedom, for example, the iconic Il Biscione or grass snake  (a  symbol of Milan and the house of Visconti) away jersey in the 2010/2011 season, even the much-discussed red away jersey for the  2012/2013 season;  St. Ambrose's cross (used on the flag of Milan and also on the flag of England) was prominently displayed on the centenary away kit in 1998/1998.

 Although third kits aren't a new concept they were widely adopted by European clubs in the beginning of this century and are possibly the most experimental in nature. They serve to fill the purpose of differentiating the home and away teams when their respective kit colours are too similar to distinguish from one another.  This year's third kit, for example, features a light blue  to bright green gradient.

To put things into perspective, throughout the years, Inter has used black and blue stripes, St. George's cross and Il Biscione, the grass snake, as iconic historic symbols for the club and the city of Milan as a whole on its various kit designs. Keeping this in mind I wanted to introduce a different symbolism to the 110th-anniversary concept kits, but still keep the designs intimately connected with the club's rich history. Drawing inspiration from it  I came up with the concept of honouring the stellar sky that the Inter's founders gazed upon in 1908. Extending this concept, a cloudy daytime and a sunrise coloured gradient were used for the away and third kit designs.

Although a daring deviation from the classic approach, both visually and technically (using complex graphics on a football jersey) I believe this concept resonates with Internazionale's core identity and values - being bold and aiming for no less than the stars.

Home kit    Version A

Home kit    Version B

Away kit

Third kit