Parisien club Red Star FC will recount their history on their shirts this coming season, with these quirky adaptations of Adidas’ Condivo 20 template.
France’s second oldest football club were founded in the northern suburbs of Paris in 1897 by the same Jules Rimet, who would go on to become FIFA’s longest-serving president and gleam on for generations as the name of the first World Cup trophy.
On first glance, there’s really nothing too special about Red Star’s home and away shirts, which follow the same cut as many of Adidas designs for the 2020-21 season.
Same old boring Adidas templates eh?
Wrong.
Take a closer look and you’ll see a truly individual design featuring key moments from the five-time French Cup winners’ history.
There are depictions of Rimet, his chums and the Red Star liner that may have given the club its name; as well as images from les Verts et Blancs‘ more recent history, celebrating their fans’ social conscience and activism.
Red Star, whose president is the film-producer Patrice Haddad, and count former Manchester United & Sunderland striker David Bellion as creative director; have a strong connection to art and culture and are the only French club Adidas has allowed to design their own jerseys.
The results, in partnership with the design collective Acid FC, carry a little of that Parisien revolutionary spirit and will be used in schools to educate local kids on the history of the area and further connect the club to its environs.
Patrice Haddad said; “We draw our strength and our fighting spirit from our history, our DNA, our territory. Beyond its aesthetics, this jersey responds to our development strategy on our territory, as well as our educational and social actions, supported by the Red Star Lab.”
“What we are going to do at the start of the school year is something unique.”
Drawn in the 18th century “Toile de Jouy” style of fabrics and wallpaper print originating from the town of Jouy-en-Josas, close to the palace of Versailles; the shirts are partly inspired by the antique dealers and flea market Red Star’s home district of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine is famous for.
The home shirts in bold bottle green, and the white and rose detailed away shirts are sponsored by provocative international magazine and media outlet Vice.
In recent years the humanist identity and left-wing politics of L’Étoile Rouge’s support has been seen as an authentic alternative to football’s excesses and the marketing machine behind city-neighbours PSG; drawing a vocal support to the 3rd tier side’s ramshackle Stade Bauer home.
The sparks of creativity, referencing French design heritage and the history of a football club and its surrounding area, take the mind on a romantic voyage away from life in lockdown, and some are boldly proclaiming that these two shirts are the very best of the 2020-21 season so far.
Red Star have shown precisely how to connect a club’s kits to its roots.
C’est magnifique!
You can buy Red Star’s 2020-21 home and away jerseys here.
Sartorial Soccer 