La Liga to stage retro week, vintage kits to be revealed at Madrid Fashion Week

La Liga will stage a retro weekend in April with teams and referees wearing vintage-style kits.

The Spanish top flight confirmed in a statement that 38 of the 42 teams across the country’s top two divisions will wear retro strips as part of the initiative, which is scheduled to take place across the weekend of April 10 to 13.

The kits will be “inspired by iconic designs from their (clubs’) past” and “reinterpreted for today’s competition”. Sources with knowledge of the plans, speaking on the condition of anonymity, indicated the kits would be unveiled at Madrid Fashion Week, which takes place between March 17 and 21.

In addition to the kits, scoreboards, TV graphics and the TV broadcast will also adopt a retro aesthetic. Match officials will also wear strips designed specially for the occasion.

Barcelona, Rayo Vallecano and Getafe will not wear retro kits over the gameweek, but will participate in wider parts of retro weekend project. Real Madrid have frequently not participated in various La Liga league-wide schemes, including in September 2023, when they were the only top-flight side to not allow TV cameras behind the scenes for their match as part of a broadcaster initiative.

Vintage football shirts have become a hugely popular fashion trend over the past decade — in 2024, UK business Classic Football Shirts received £30.4million ($38.5million) of growth equity investment from the United States investment firm The Chernin Group (TCG), which valued the company at approaching £50million. A number of La Liga clubs have retro collections in their official club stores, consisting of shirts and training wear.

Similarly-themed matchdays are common across U.S. sports, with NFL teams participating in throwback jersey weeks, consisting of retro uniforms and helmets.

Other themed matchdays, such as rivalry week, are prevalent across U.S. pro and college sports, while pairing games with community initiatives is also commonplace.