Mexico becomes the first country to host the FIFA World Cup three times in 2026. Adidas marks the occasion with a new national team third kit — and an artisan lifestyle collection embedding indigenous craft into global sportswear.
Ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, Adidas has completed the Mexican National Team’s three-jersey lineup for the tournament year, unveiling a third kit it says is intended to reflect national identity.
The jersey carries a tonal “MX” pattern, a V-shaped collar and the phrase “Somos México” (“We are Mexico”). The slogan also appears on the home and away kits previously announced as part of the 2026 collection.
A craft collaboration puts adidas’ Mexico third kit in the spotlight
Alongside the kit, Adidas Originals has launched a six-piece lifestyle collection with Someone Somewhere, a Mexico City-based social enterprise that works with artisan communities. Adidas said the range incorporates handwork by artisan women from Naupan, a community in the Sierra Norte de Puebla region, and includes a polo-collar lifestyle version of the third jersey, the Artisan JSY, with embroidered detailing.
Antonio Nuño, CEO and co-founder of Someone Somewhere, said the collaboration “sets out a precedent for the global fashion industry, demonstrating that it is possible to integrate artisanal value chains into the production systems of global brands.”
The partnership is presented as consent-based and compensated, with both a named community and a named intermediary. Whether a six-piece capsule and a lifestyle jersey amount to a scalable template for the industry, however, is less clear.
The release also comes after adidas faced criticism over alleged cultural appropriation linked to the Oaxaca Slip-On shoe, a design by US-based, Mexican-heritage designer Willy Chavarria that Mexican authorities said replicated traditional huaraches from Villa Hidalgo Yalalag without consent or credit. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum condemned the design, and the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples said it planned legal action. Adidas later apologized, with the head of Legal and Compliance at Adidas Mexico saying the situation had “caused discomfort.”
In that context, the Someone Somewhere collaboration may be read as part of a broader effort to demonstrate a different approach to Indigenous craft and cultural references in product development, although the longer-term impact will depend on how adidas structures similar partnerships beyond this launch.
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