It was only a matter of time, wasn’t it? In a world where everyone looks back, other than The Strokes, Arsenal have cast a wistful eye towards their greatest hit and tried to strike the same chord all over again.
Has it worked? Well, before we answer that, we should probably go back and look at what made the Bruised Banana shirt so great in the first place. Because when the shirt was unveiled for the 1991/92 season, football was entering a new era. Manufacturers had moved beyond the simple stripes and blocks of colour that had dominated the 1980s. Culture was moving in a different direction and, as such, designers were experimenting with sublimated graphics and bold geometric patterns. Adidas were leading the movement.
Of course, a bruised banana was not what they were going for. Designed around a yellow base with black zigzag graphics, the jagged pattern was very much part of Adidas’ wider design language at the time. They had produced similarly striking templates for clubs across Europe.
It was Arsenal supporters who decided the irregular yellow and black zigzags resembled an overripe banana. Many hated it, particularly given the club’s traditionalist ethos. But, like many designs that push boundaries, it became more appreciated with age. It certainly didn’t hurt that Arsenal won the league title while wearing it.
We have, of course, written about Arsenal’s ‘Bruised Banana’ shirt before. And this isn’t the first time Arsenal have leaned into arguably the greatest shirt in their history in an attempt to shift some new clobber. In the 2019/20 season, Arsenal had a misguided stab at recreating the magic. It didn’t go well. Partly because the shirt itself was crap, and partly because the players wearing it were. That, as we all know, is a recipe for a kit that won’t be remembered fondly.
So, more than 30 years after the original was released and less than a decade since their botched banana attempt, Arsenal are back at it. Even Don Draper didn’t lean into nostalgia this much.
The big question is: has it worked? The answer is, well… sort of.
It's undoubtedly a lovely bit of clobber. Adidas have made a point a point of adding the trefoil to a lot of their shirts this summer and this one is undoubtedly all the better for it. The nod to the bruised banana is much more subtle than the last attempt. Adidas now recognise that not everything needs to be a copy and past job.
This shirt, with its blue base and yellow highlights reinforces the feeling of Arsenal's most famous shirt. It never tries to replicate it.
Ultimately, it's knowing, it's smart and it's well made. If the bruised banana didn't exist, a lot of people would be calling this a shirt of the season contender. As it is, it's very good. But it's lacking the one thing that makes anything great. Originality.
