Kith & Lionel Messi Drop One of the Hautest Collabs Ahead of the 2026 World Cup

Over the holiday weekend, Kith and Lionel Messi, alongside adidas Football, dropped a collection that has been two decades in the making—marking the 20th anniversary of Messi’s debut on the world stage and the 15th anniversary of Kith, the New York-based lifestyle brand and specialty retailer founded by former Haute Living cover star, Ronnie Fieg. The result is the kind of collaboration that earns its scale.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Kith

The collection was built from the ground up by Fieg and Messi directly. The two met multiple times over the course of a year to hand-curate every silhouette, every detail, and every decision—a process that makes the Kith & Messi for adidas Football range feel less like a licensing exercise and more like a genuine creative partnership. Kith, Messi, and adidas Football branding runs throughout, with select styles carrying 20th- and 15th-anniversary crests alongside the commemorative KXVH Monogram.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Kith

The on-pitch range is rooted in the moments that define Messi’s career. Two jerseys bear his original number 19—a nod to the 2006 World Cup, where an 18-year-old Messi first announced himself to the world—alongside two featuring his now-iconic number 10. Each jersey comes with a corresponding pair of shorts to complete the full kit. The performance range extends to all-over printed long-sleeve goalkeeper jerseys and gloves, tracksuits, nylon warm-up pullovers, socks, a ball bag, and two sizes of co-branded footballs.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Kith

Off the pitch, the lifestyle range brings Kith’s meticulous attention to fabrication and detail into dialogue with adidas Football’s design language. A double-breasted suit, a short-sleeve crossover blazer with matching suit shorts, a washed denim jacket and matching shorts, a knit polo, wool tracksuits, and a leather duffle bag make up a range that moves comfortably between the locker room and beyond.

Six footwear styles anchor the collection, each one a considered tribute to different chapters of Messi’s career. The COPA Mundial 17 UltraBOOST—a callback to the very first Kith and adidas Football partnership in 2017—returns with a snakeskin-embossed leather upper. The F50 Megaride features a gradient upper and a translucent midsole that shifts appearance with interchangeable insoles. The F50 Walkable Cleat draws directly from the first adidas cleat Messi wore at the 2006 World Cup. On the lifestyle side, two colorways of the Handball Spezial arrive in premium suede with gum soles, and a special deconstructed iteration of the Superstar rounds out the six.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Kith

To mark the collection, Kith, Messi, and adidas Football created two limited-edition trading cards featuring imagery of the Argentinian icon alongside collection graphics. Any purchase of one of the four jerseys or six footwear styles includes a card as a gift with purchase, and randomly inserted into select orders will be a signed version, authenticated and graded by PSA. Fewer than 100 of each card have been signed. They will be distributed randomly through both in-store and online purchases, with no guarantees and no shortcuts.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Kith

The campaign was shot in still photography and short film, with Messi starring in both. The film—titled The International Language of Messi—pays tribute to what his name means across every language and every border. Commentators from around the world can be heard reacting to his most memorable goals in their native tongues, yet one word remains universally understood regardless of what language is spoken. It debuted at Nu Stadium during an Inter Miami CF match on May 24th, with attendees receiving early access to shop the collection on the Kith App immediately after.

The Haute Read

Kith, Lionel Messi, and adidas Football announced a collaborative collection releasing globally on Friday, May 29, 2026, at all Kith stores and on Kith.com and the Kith App at 11 AM in the New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo time zones. The collection celebrates the 20th anniversary of Messi’s debut on the world stage and Kith’s 15th anniversary. All silhouettes were designed collaboratively by Kith Founder and Creative Director Ronnie Fieg and Lionel Messi across multiple meetings over the course of a year. The collection includes on-pitch performance products—jerseys inspired by Messi’s number 19 and number 10, goalkeeper jerseys, tracksuits, and co-branded footballs—as well as an off-field lifestyle range including a double-breasted suit, washed denim jacket, wool tracksuits, and a leather duffle bag. Six footwear styles were created, including the COPA Mundial 17 UltraBOOST, the F50 Megaride, the F50 Walkable Cleat, two colorways of the Handball Spezial, and a deconstructed Superstar. Two limited-edition trading cards were created as gifts with purchase, with fewer than 100 Messi-signed cards per design randomly distributed through in-store and online purchases, authenticated and graded by PSA. The campaign short film, titled The International Language of Messi, debuted at Nu Stadium during an Inter Miami CF match on May 24, 2026.