PLAY ON: Canali has forged a three-year partnership with storied soccer team FC Internazionale Milano, best known as Inter and one of the two main soccer teams of Milan.
The tailoring brand, which marks its 90th anniversary this year and celebrated the milestone with an event, anniversary capsule and exhibition during Milan Fashion Week in June, has been named the soccer team’s official formalwear partner.
As part of the deal, Canali designed off-field uniforms for Inter’s players, coach, management team and staff.
The tie-in follows a similar three-year deal Inter inked with Moncler in 2021.
After bringing home its 20th league title in the Serie A Italian soccer championship this year, Inter’s players will hit the 2024-25 season with a new wardrobe in tow.
Canali designed a pocketed cotton safari jacket paired with loose pants, suede loafers and a lightweight crewneck for spring, and a diamond-quilted bomber jacket, double overshirt, merino wool turtleneck and loose pants matched to loafers for fall.
Sketches of the Canali off-field uniforms for the FC Internazionale Milano soccer players.
Courtesy of Canali
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi, a former soccer player, as well as management and staff will sport a wool suit paired with a shirt and complemented by a merino wool pullover and silk tie, as well as a padded nylon duster coat.
Canali has reimagined its arrow-shaped logo and embedded the Inter emblem appearing in tonal colorways on the different garments.
Sketches of the Canali off-field uniforms for the FC Internazionale Milano soccer team’s coach Simone Inzaghi.
Courtesy of Canali
Founded in 1908, Inter has won 36 domestic trophies, and the European Cup/Champions League three times. The club has also won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup.
Its longstanding rivalry with AC Milan, the city’s other big soccer club, has grown over the years into a cultural phenomenon in town, especially around the Derby della Madonnina match they play at Inter’s home stadium, San Siro, Italy’s largest soccer venue with a capacity of more than 75,000 people.
Last May, the club was acquired by American asset management company Oaktree Capital Management.
Although several other sports have come under the fashion spotlight, with tennis upstaging them all this year, soccer continues to be tapped by fashion and luxury labels as players worldwide are increasingly being noticed by the industry and, for their part, embracing the fashion game.
Several marquee designer brands have or had ties with soccer clubs, including Loro Piana with Juventus; Thom Browne with FC Barcelona; Hugo Boss with AS Roma, FC Bayern, Real Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain; Paul Smith with Manchester United; Diesel with AC Milan; Brooks Brothers with Inter; Kiton’s KNT with Tottenham Hotspur F.C.; Giorgio Armani for Chelsea, and Fendi with AS Roma, among others.