The Chelsea away kit leaked about a week ago has been confirmed as accurate by the club, who've now officially launched the thing. Check out the pictures on the official site. Salomon Kalou looks quite dashing, doesn't he? I like the thing a little more now that I've seen the shorts and socks. It seems to tie in together better than last year's, even though the top isn't anywhere near as exciting.

My favourite part of the whole thing isn't the kit itself though. It's the descriptions that Chelsea give of the thing. I'm assuming they had some help from Adidas here:

The playing shirt features the adidas techfit™ technology which will help improve speed, increased endurance capabilities and enhanced awareness.

...

The replica shirt incorporates adidas ClimaCool™ technology, a mixture of heat and moisture controlling materials, ventilation channels and 3D fabrics which improve air flow to the skin in the key heat zones.

And, last but not least, the socks:

The socks include a revolutionary design that features anatomically placed cushioning and an Achilles protector.

Anatomically placed cushioning, eh? It's a sock. It goes around your foot. Most socks are cushion-y. That is, by definition, anatomically placed cushioning. What a bizarre selling point. Anyway, we'll be playing in them for the first time for our friendly against Hong Kong champions Kitchee, whom we meet on July 27th. I'm sure none of you will want to miss that!