GdS: Viral kits and collaborations – Milan and Venezia the style pioneers of Serie A | OneFootball

The game between AC Milan and Venezia at San Siro tonight is a battle between two very different clubs in terms of size and ambition, but also two similar sides in their desire to be fashionable.

La Gazzetta dello Sport write that Milan and Venezia are the two clubs with the most interesting ideas in Italy, if you like fashion combined with football. Both have American ownership, who have put the development of the club’s image at the centre of their projects.

They have a great starting fortune: for Milan, the history of the club, the seven Champions Leagues, the charm of San Siro; for Venice an iconic city more than any other. The result has been some creations that have gone viral.

On the Venezia jerseys you will find a particular technical sponsor: Nocta, the name given by Drake and Nike to the products born from their collaboration. It is a novelty for football and it is not just a brand like the others.

A summer ago, Drake helped Venezia raise funds to register for the season ahead and overcome a difficult financial moment. The decisive contact was with Brad Katsuyama, co-owner of the club.

Milan respond with links to LeBron James, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Rihanna and others. Among the investors in Milan are Main Street Advisors, a fund in which LeBron James owns shares, while in 2022 the club contributed to the launch of Black Adam, a film with ‘The Rock’.

The Venezia shirt is already iconic. Horizontal black, orange and green stripes, black with the golden stars of the Basilica of San Marco arranged in a V, then black with a vertical orange-green band. It has gone beyond Italy, becoming viral among collectors, with the 2023-24 third shirt standing out.

The Venetians also cultivated the idea of ​​bringing back the long sleeves, a very vintage look, and the dedication of the 2023-24 home jersey to Carlo Scarpa – a Venetian architect and designer of the 20th century – was well received too.

Milan made the difference above all with their fourth shirts, in collaboration with fashion brands such as Pleasures and Koché. The most beautiful? Probably the black and white ones from last season, inspired by the Milan Duomo, used for two games by outfield players and goalkeepers.

It is not just Pleasures and Koché that have teamed up with the Rossoneri, too. In recent years, Milan have collaborated with Off-White, Warner Bros Discovery, New Era (caps), Rocket League (video game) and the New York Yankees.

There were shirts with the Rolling Stones logo on and the trend is clear: it is modern, it works, and it connects with a younger audience. Venezia, on the other hand, has collaborated with Nivelcrack, a Korean brand with which it has also opened a pop up store, a temporary shop, in Seoul.

A month ago, Venezia staged yet another surprise: they didn’t launch their home and away shirts, but simply made them public on the pitch, at the kick-off in the first and second rounds, as was done in the 1980s and 1990s. It’s no coincidence that the style of the goalkeepers’ shirts is also 1990s: colourful like those of Campos, the legendary Mexican goalkeeper.

Milan’s latest partnership is New York. A few days ago, a fashion line was launched in collaboration with the Yankees, to whom Gerry Cardinale has always been linked. There are shirts, sweatshirts and caps with the two logos, some already sold out.

We end with a note on the club shops: Venezia’s are two beautiful boutiques in the city centre, while Milan have several and the most recent to open was just a stone’s throw away from the Duomo, on Via Dante.