Why are Real Madrid playing in purple against Athletic Club?

Real Madrid play host to Athletic Club as LaLiga hits Week 30. The leaders, who could go eight points clear at the top of the table, won;t be wearing their traditional all-white kit against the Bilbaínos. Ancelotti’s team will take to the pitch wearing their brand new, all-purple kit for the first time. The team’s fourth kit (this season’s second strip is navy and the third, black) forms part of Adidas’ Y-3 range, the creation of Japanese designer, Yohji Yamamoto. Purple is at the fore once again, being one of the club’s traditional colors. The new range will be worn by both the men’s and women’s teams this season.

During the late 70s/early 80s, the club recovered the color purple which replaced the royal blue used for the team’s away kits. Castilla wore all purple when they faced Madrid’s first team in the 1980 Copa del Rey final at the Bernabéu. Purple stripes and detailing also appeared on the white home kit from the 1980s onwards. Since then, Madrid have used various shades of purple is their second and third strips - memorably in 1997/98 and 2016/17 while last season’s away kit was lilac with black trimmings.

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Yamamoto’s Madrid designs

Details of the new Y-3 kit were published at the start of last week via the club’s different social media platforms (Real Madrid, Adidas, and Y-3). Jude Bellingham and David Alaba from the men’s team and Misa Rodríguez, Naomie Feller and Kathellen Sousa from the women’s team were selected to model the new kit. Earlier this month, Bellingham and Zidane appeared together in a teaser as the main faces of the campaign, with the French legend modelling a sleek black leather blouson and other items from the Y-3 travel collection.

Real Madrid have looked to Yamamoto for inspiration in the past. In 2014/15, he designed a commemorative black kit with dragon motif and produced another signature black and white jersey to mark the club’s 120th anniversary in 2021/22. Madrid donned the all-black strip for the Week 29 Clásico against Barcelona, at the Bernabéu. It didn’t bring them much luck - Barça, wearing their Senyera kit, ended up winning the game 0-4.

Have Madrid ever played at home not wearing white?

Funnily enough, they have. Before tonight’s clash with Athletic, Real Madrid have played twice at the Bernabéu not wearing their white home kit. In 2020, they hosted Espanyol playing in a mint green kit, winning that game 2-0. Before that there was the aforementioned Men in Black Clásico. Ancelotti’s side hope their new purple kit bring them luck as it did on their travels 1997/98 and 2016/17 when Los Blancos won the Séptima and Duodécima.

The purple Y-3 kit, which is made of 100% recycled polyester jacquard, is now available through the club’s official stores. The collection also includes two goalkeeper kits, one all-black and one orange, along with a white pre-match kit including a top, shorts and jacket. Manufacturers Adidas assure that the collection “is a fusion of elegance and tradition, bringing together fashion and success in sport and drawing inspiration from the early stages of the collaboration between Adidas and Yamamoto”.

Y-3 has also created a selection of fan favorites, including a jersey, a hoodie, a shoulder bag, a cap and a scarf.