Undoubtedly, one of this summer’s defining moments is set to be the Women’s Euros. With all eyes on England’s Lionesses, who are currently playing in the UEFA Women's Nations League, the anticipation is high as they prepare to kick off their Euros journey on July 5, facing France in their opening group game. As the tournament approaches the pressure builds for the fans and players alike. This week Nike celebrated the launch of the 2025 Women’s Federation Kits with a unique unveiling event in London with Lioness Lucy Bronze.
No one is more excited than England’s star defender, Bronze, whose career thus far has been filled with inimitable success. In 2018, Bronze made history when she became the first defender to win the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year Award. Her talents only continued to shine when she was named the Best FIFA Women’s Player in 2020 and of course, she won the UEFA Champion’s League title in all three of her seasons with Lyon.
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Continuously rising to every challenge, Bronze remains determined ahead of this summer's tournament, no matter the setbacks. 'I think personally I feel really good, healthy, excited, fit and I feel the same about the team. I think we have had an up and down kind of year of missing players and different results and different performances, but I think ultimately its filtered down into these moments where big players are coming back fit.
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'Players that have been missing throughout the season are coming in while the players that have played throughout the season are still doing well and being consistent. We have an exciting group of players, who some have won previously and some haven’t – its like a new England and a new environment. We just want to go to the Euros and perform well and we have all got our mentality set that we are ready to win this tournament.'
Adding to anticipation at Nike’s recent unveiling of the 2025 Women’s Federation primary and secondary kits which will be worn by England, France, Netherlands, Norway and Nigeria was a big festival like stadium show in South London, with a high performance from British musician Ms Banks. Bringing together Nike footballers, athletes and the footballing community, the experience celebrated the spirit and culture of the game, with fans and players Ada Hegerberg, Guro Bergsvand, Wieke Kaptein, Victoria Pelova, Oriane Jean-François, Louna Ribadeira and Lola Brown all joining Bronze.
Stephanie Ankrah, Vice president at Women’s Brand, shared the inspiration behind the new designs: 'At Nike, in whatever we do, we always start with the athlete. What do they need to perform their best? The insights we get from our athletes to serve their needs, informs all parts of the process, from design through to the end-result that consumers can wear to play, support and style.
'These collections showcase our deep commitment to our women athletes in motion, gathering thousands of insights across design, sport science, and innovations that revolutionize the way women move and perform.
'But football isn’t simply about performance, it’s also about style, creativity, and self-expression on and off pitch. And that’s where our rebellious spirit really comes to the fore, at that point where sport meets style.
'Each of our federation’s story comes to life through a vibrant collection that reflects tradition and diversity through inescapable local design inspirations. For example, I mentioned how far Women’s football has come. In the case of our new England home kit, it features design elements that reference the 70s, when women were once again allowed to play football, it still amazes me to think they were ever banned! That inspiration has led to the unique colour palette with lighter hues of blue and more vibrant reds.'
Speaking about the England kit, Bronze added: 'The home kit is the one that we wear the most, it’s the thing that people see us in the most and this one is a little bit different to previous ones because it has a bit of colour on with the red and the blue across the chest. So I think a lot of the players are quite excited for that and that the shorts have got a little bit of a retro look to them as well. So I think it’s the home kit, especially going into a tournament where our fans are hopefully going to travel in their hundreds and thousands to see us and be wearing the kit as well.'
As the England team prepare for another Euros campaign, like many of the other women in her sport, Bronze knows that the weight of what this tournament, like all of the previous ones, holds the potential to propel women’s football even further into the spotlight.
'We see with every women’s tournament, it just explodes the game again in so many different countries all around the world. And I know it’s the Euros and it is European but I think it’s got the opportunity to change society, change football.
'When the tournament starts and the buzz happens, with all the players and teams performances and just the noise around it – its just amazing and I think that its another step on the ladder of building the game up and making it better off the back of tournaments. So many great things are always happen in leagues to individuals, to clubs, to national teams and obviously we have witnessed that as an England Lionesses team and the change it made to our country and to our team from winning it but equally the other teams who didn’t win it, they went back and their countries were like "We want to win it, what do we need to do?". So its exciting that another Euros has come round because I think its just another step in the right direction to pushing the game to even bigger heights.'
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