High-end fashion brand Balenciaga unveiled a series of football kits as part of their AW20 collection at Paris Fashion Week at the weekend. Stepping into the world of football to take a first experimental run-up at producing a kit, the French fashion label have taken their shot to get involved in a thriving fashion-infused football market.
So many lifestyle, streetwear and fashion brands have seamlessly entered the football market in subtle yet natural ways and reaped the rewards of a football audience embracing those cross-overs. Naturally, Balenciaga, a brand with such a strong following from athletes, especially footballers, has pondered how they can take the next step into the game. The result? Well, it looks like something a second division side would have worn on Pro Evo 4. The sort of kit your school team wore all in XL, straight from Sports Direct's bargain bin, probably made by Avec or Mitre, not a luxury fashion house. Yeah, they're nasty.
Yeah, they're nasty, but it's only fair we let Balenciaga's Creative Director Demna Gvasalia explain the decision; “Footballers and priests were what I grew up with in Georgia,” he told British Vogue. “Sport, religion, obsession, and seduction are stripped of their functions, leaving only the sensation of a fashion object.” K mate. High-end fashion can get away with most things by simply putting their logo on it, but not these. The idea of Balenciaga designing football kits should be one that tears up the rulebook, but this execution is miles off for us.
Not idea what the models are carrying in those little boxes. Hopefully the receipt. Are we missing something here? What you saying?
