La Liga will become the first of Europe's five major football leagues to stage a coordinated retro kit campaign this weekend, with 38 of the 42 clubs across Spain's top two divisions wearing throwback shirts that pay tribute to each club's history and supporter traditions.

The kits were unveiled March 19 at Madrid Fashion Week as part of a collaboration between football and fashion. Referees will wear special kits, broadcast graphics will adopt a vintage aesthetic and a retro-style match ball will be used throughout the weekend's fixtures.

Barcelona, Rayo Vallecano and Getafe will not wear special jerseys due to logistical reasons, according to Spanish publication Marca, though all three remain involved in the broader campaign. Real Madrid are not participating at all.

La Liga director Jaime Blanco framed the initiative as a way to connect the league's present with its past.

"It allows us to bring the past into the present while continuing to build experiences and strengthen the legacy that emotionally connects with supporters," Blanco said. "Presenting this collection during Spain's leading fashion week is the perfect platform to project that identity beyond the field and position soccer at the heart of the cultural and creative conversation."

The campaign reflects a wider trend across football. Liverpool released a retro jersey collection earlier this season featuring shirts dating back to the 1960s. Juventus recently unveiled a fourth kit inspired by their 1996-97 strip. Nike has relaunched its T90 collection, while Adidas incorporated its classic Trefoil badge on 2026 World Cup away jerseys for the first time in 36 years.

The broader retro shirt market has grown into a business reportedly worth nearly 40 million pounds, according to the Classic Football Shirts company.

Jordan Clarke, founder of Footballer Fits, an Instagram platform exploring the intersection of football and fashion, said the appetite for nostalgia extends well beyond the sport.

"I think nostalgia is something in society, not just in football," Clarke said. "A lot of people look back fondly at times during their lives, when they were maybe younger, and there was less worry in the world. Football is just a microcosm of how society feels in the world that we are living in nowadays."

Other sports have staged similar events, including Australia's National Rugby League and the Australian Football League, which have both held dedicated retro rounds.