Manchester City, in a groundbreaking collaboration with Puma and AI company DeepObjects, is launching a unique competition that empowers fans to design the club’s third kit for the 2026-2027 season. This innovative initiative utilizes a cutting-edge text-to-image uniform generator, enabling fans to translate their creative visions into tangible designs. The winning design will not only be worn by Manchester City players during the season but will also be made available for purchase by fans, offering an unprecedented level of engagement and ownership within the football community.
The competition hinges on Puma’s AI Creator, a sophisticated tool that leverages artificial intelligence to convert textual prompts into visual representations. Participants, after creating an account, are invited to describe their desired kit design using descriptive prompts. The platform further refines the creative process by offering a selection of artistic styles, such as “abstract,” “emotive brushstrokes,” and “dream visions,” which influence the AI’s rendering of the design. This allows for a wide range of stylistic interpretations and caters to diverse aesthetic preferences. The user then receives four design options presented on a virtual uniform, providing the opportunity to customize finer details like collars, trim colors, and badges.
The competition structure encourages exploration and refinement within certain parameters. Each participant receives 15 credits, with each design generation consuming one credit. However, despite the freedom to experiment with multiple designs, only two final creations can be submitted for consideration in the contest. This encourages careful consideration and strategic decision-making during the design process. The competition window extends until December 20th, allowing ample time for fans to conceptualize, create, and refine their submissions.
The selection process for the winning design embraces both popular opinion and expert judgment. Fan ratings play a key role in determining the most favored designs, reflecting the collective preferences of the Manchester City supporter base. Complementing this democratic approach, experts from both Manchester City and Puma will contribute their professional insights and evaluations, ensuring a balanced and informed final decision. This collaborative evaluation process underscores the value placed on both fan engagement and expert knowledge in shaping the future aesthetic of the club.
This pioneering initiative isn’t merely theoretical; it’s already making history on the pitch. Manchester City players Ederson, Stefan Ortega, and Rico Lewis have already utilized the Puma AI Creator to design a goalkeeper kit, drawing creative inspiration from the net of a football goal. This AI-generated goalkeeper kit stands as a testament to the platform’s capabilities and represents the first instance of an AI-designed football uniform being worn in a professional match. This tangible application of the technology further reinforces the competition’s significance and highlights the potential of AI in revolutionizing sports apparel design.
The Manchester City kit design competition epitomizes the intersection of technology, fan engagement, and creative expression. By harnessing the power of AI, the club is not only empowering its fans to shape the team’s visual identity but also pioneering a new era in sports apparel design. The competition’s structure encourages both creative exploration and strategic decision-making, while the evaluation process balances popular opinion with expert judgment. This innovative initiative, marked by its real-world application with the AI-designed goalkeeper kit, sets a precedent for future collaborations between sports clubs, brands, and fans, unlocking new possibilities for collaborative design and personalized fan experiences.
