Capsule Collection Weds High Fashion With World Cup Spirit
In a Nutshell
- • Fashion designers created looks for hoodies and T-Shirts to represent nations participating in the 2018 World Cup.
- • Part of the proceeds benefit a children's charity.
Some mega popular international footballers – soccer players to us Yanks – are known to translate their sporting stardom into being fashion icons off the pitch. Just think of the ever Instagramable David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. Given that, the new Soccer Couture collection of printed apparel tied to the 2018 World Cup makes a lot of sense.
The capsule collection is the fruit of a partnership between online fashion retailer Yoox and SEPP, a publication covering soccer/fashion. The pair enlisted fashion designers to create looks to embellish T-Shirts and sweatshirts. Each graphic represents something about the spirit of a nation whose national football team is participating in the World Cup, the international tournament being played now into July. Participating fashionistas include Vivienne Westwood, Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida, and Esteban Cortazar.
Hearteningly, part of the proceeds from sales of the #YOOXSOCCERCOUTURE capsule collection are being donated to Stars for Children, a charitable foundation founded in 2015 by Russian soccer player Alexander Kerzhakov to support kids in need and help them get involved in sports.
Anyway, without further ado, here are a few samples from the collection:
This design from Isolda supports Brazil – the nation that's won the World Cup more than any other (five times). Designers intend the plants and wildlife in the print, which are native to Brazil, to capture the essence of a big multicultural country that is unified by its love of soccer.
Created by Kolor, this design displays the famous Rising Sun of the Japanese flag. Designers said the idea is to show that passion for soccer can connect people, encouraging unity that helps them to become one – like a single rising sun.
This design from Nio Far x Mwami represents Senegal – sadly now eliminated from the tourney. Still, it's a great design, using the symmetry and position of the Senegal lion as a nod to traditional African masks.
Marques'Almeida came up with this creation that takes the brand's penchant for stripes and divvies the concept up into abstract shapes in the striped colors of Portugal's flag.