Italian football has discovered the vintage outwear

In the last 4 or 5 years, even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the vintage and second-hand market has gained increasing relevance, becoming a point of reference for an audience that, up until that point, rarely preferred a used item over one from a mid-to-low-end brand. This change has now become a stable phenomenon, particularly widespread among young fashion enthusiasts. The trend has also affected the world of football, a sport that demonstrates its connection with vintage, especially through the release of shirts and new collections, often inspired by the past: a sort of "comfort zone" to retreat to. Even football shirt collecting, once a reserved niche, has become a well-established industry.

The rediscovery of vintage has brought with it a massive return of countless silhouettes that, since the 2000s, had blended into the vast offering of clothing proposed by brands worldwide: military-inspired garments, the return of workwear, Ivy League style, in short, the lines and characteristics of certain items, still highly appreciated today for their utility and versatility, could only take the final, decisive step: entering the world of football. Between last season and the current one, several clubs – including those from major European leagues – such as Bologna, Sampdoria, Milan, Inter, Juventus, and Arsenal, have chosen to wear coach jackets, varsity jackets, field jackets, and flight jackets.

The Emilia-Romagna club inaugurated this trend last season, wearing, in the home match against Sassuolo on November 3rd, an item halfway between a shirt and a navy blue coach jacket. This attempt, although timid, generated a domino effect, inspiring other clubs to find inspiration from the past, such as Sampdoria, a particularly notable case considering their presence in a lower division. The Ligurians opted for a varsity jacket in the club's colors, an iconic item whose silhouette has been revisited multiple times by the biggest fashion brands – including Saint Laurent, especially known for its varsity jackets, also known as teddy jackets. Similarly, OFF-WHITE, fashion partner of Milan, turned the varsity jacket into a symbolic item for the brand, staying true to a trend that seemed to have faded. Then came Inter's turn, starting with the early matches of the 2024/25 Serie A season, when players wore items made by their new formal wear partner, Canali, which replaced Moncler. The Italian brand introduced a lifestyle approach to the Nerazzurri's look, offering a jacket inspired by classic field jackets, a military garment introduced by the U.S. Army during World War II.

The version that left the biggest mark in history is undoubtedly the M-65 field jacket, introduced in 1965 by Alpha Industries to equip soldiers during the Vietnam War. The summer jacket proposed by Canali recalls the original structure of the field jacket, with the four front pockets – two on the hips and two on the chest – used back then to carry ammunition and other essential items at hand. Closing the circle is Juventus, which tomorrow night, during the Derby della Mole against Torino, will wear the new adidas bomber jacket NASA-inspired, a true flight jacket. This item also has military origins, but, unlike the field jacket, which was primarily used for ground combat, the flight jacket (also known as the MA-1) was created for American military pilots after World War II and is distinguished by its nylon finish. The cases of Juventus, Milan, Inter, Bologna, and Sampdoria clearly show how the trend in Italian football is indeed moving in this direction, despite the differences between various clubs: Inter and Milan's items are made by their respective fashion partners, while those of Juventus, Bologna, and Sampdoria come from their technical sponsor.

Finally, it is interesting to note how the introduction of these items (especially the MA-1 launched by Juventus and adidas, very similar to the anthem jacket for the Lunar Year worn by Arsenal in the 2022/23 season against Tottenham) reflects the choices of their respective technical sponsors. adidas, in fact, is a brand particularly linked, especially at this historical moment, to the imagery of the Eighties and Nineties, as demonstrated by the continuous releases of vintage tracksuits, the reissue of iconic models such as Gazelle, Samba, Spezial, and many others in the footwear sector. On the other hand, it is now unthinkable, or at least unlikely, that Nike would make a similar choice by replicating these lines, since its style is distinctly different, with a dominance of Tech tracksuits and Nike TNs. And it is right that these balances are not too altered, in order to offer a variety that, at least in Serie A and Serie B, stands out significantly.