When most people think of Levi’s, they think denim jeans and jackets. But the San Francisco-based brand has a history in sports as well.
From outfitting its first employee baseball team in 1886 to designing a kit for the Mexican National Team at the 1978 FIFA World Cup and outfitting U.S. athletes for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the company has long played a role in sport and culture. It was also front and center earlier this year when the Super Bowl was played at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
A jacket from the Mexican Federation collection.
Courtesy of Levi’s
Now it has signed a deal with the national federations of the U.S., Mexico, England and France to create fanwear tied to the upcoming FIFA World Cup that will be played across North America beginning in June.
The collections are not FIFA-approved but rather Levi’s worked closely with the specific federations to design the capsules as well as the marketing approach, said Kenny Mitchell, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Levi’s.
Levi’s was an official outfitter of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team.
Courtesy of Levi’s
“It’s very much aligned with our strategy as a business and a brand — keeping Levi’s at the center of culture,” he explained. “That in our minds means sometimes we show up alongside global icons and globally iconic moments.” That includes fashion, music, art and sports and “speaks to the democratic nature or elasticity of our brand and our ability to play across so many different cultural spaces.”
These four countries also represent “big business markets” for the brand, he added.
The collections will begin dropping on Thursday with the Mexico Federation, followed by the U.S. on April 23, England on May 7, and France on May 14. The federation collections feature trucker jackets, baggy shorts and bandanas, Mitchell said, and are expected to appeal to “lovers and fans of the sport.”
The collections will be sold primarily through Levi’s stores and e-commerce site as well as a small number of wholesale partners.
Levi’s has a long history in the sports world.
Courtesy of Levi’s
He said that in last week’s earnings announcement, top management talked a lot about the company’s “evolution from being primarily a denim bottoms business sold through wholesale to being a head-to-toe denim lifestyle business that is driven primarily through direct-to-consumer. So this aligns very much with that strategy.”
Whether Levi’s will continue to work in the soccer space in the future remains to be seen, but seems likely. “We feel it’s very timely right now to celebrate the fact that global football will be a part of the cultural zeitgeist across the summer,” Mitchell said. “That will be our intent for this year, but we’re continuing to keep our partnership conversations happening because the Women’s World Cup is happening and the sport of soccer continues to be very compelling globally.”