Manchester City completed their kit collection for 2026-27 on Thursday with the launch of this season's third jersey. The design comes from an uncommon collaboration between man and machine.
This year's third kit was created using Puma's AI Creator, a custom generative AI tool that turns written prompts into visual designs. But it wasn't just City and Puma designers locked away in a research facility, coaxing aesthetic brilliance out of a computer; the prompts were coming from fans.
Supporters from over 200 countries submitted more than 180,000 unique jersey designs. Some 1.7 million votes were cast, and ultimately, the winner came from Elliott, a lifelong City fan.
"I've always loved football shirts and design, and I created mine using Puma AI Creator on my lunch break, never imagining it could actually become a City kit," Elliott said. "The whole experience has been incredible, from seeing people react to the design, to seeing it on the players for the first time when I was invited to the kit shoot. It still feels surreal to know I've played a small part in the club's history, and I hope it becomes a kit that City fans love and look back on for years to come."
What Elliott came up with is outstanding. The sky and navy vertical stripes set over the white base instantly recall the 2013-14 third kit, which is arguably the most fondly remembered top of the club's Nike era (2013-19). The result is a change strip that simply and effectively communicates the club's identity, perhaps better than any top since that 2013-14 third.
Puma notes that City's 2026-27 third kit is the first to be designed by both fans and AI to be worn on the pitch. Some may recall that City and Puma collaborated with AI once before, when in 2025 the club's players used AI Creator to produce a limited-edition goalkeeper kit.
This year's third jersey is a much, much, much better execution. Well done, Elliott, for bettering what Ederson, Stefan Ortega and Rico Lewis came up with nearly two years ago.