Making the most of not only the time they had over the last year, but also of a special opportunity that doesn’t come round all that often, Parisian creative collective Le Ballon have made real the shirt that they produced for FIFA 21 Ultimate Team.
Football’s been a very different beast over the last 18 months, but as it emerges from its imposed purgatory, so too do the creatives attached to making it the global game that appeals to millions. One way the football community continued was through FIFA 21, and Le Ballon were able to pour their creativity into producing the Ultimate Team shirt for that platform. Now, as football slowly returns to a state of normality, Le Ballon have pulled the shirt off the screen and into reality.
Inspired by the use of graphical transparencies in FIFA 21’s own art-direction and the designs and typeface Jon Deus made for their capsule collaboration with DYNE that never saw the light of day, Le Ballon chopped, screwed and glitched the classic Le Ballon ball logo before giving it the anaglyph treatment. A throwback to stereoscopic 3D Dinosaur books on the kitchen table tied to the TikTok and FIFA graphic language of the 21st century wrapped up in an eye-melting dazzle of shapes, colours and optical trickery.
Speaking of that optical trickery, the lenticular badge shifts colours as it moves and reacts to lighting conditions, while the metallic plant-cell logo on the sleeve (from Le Ballon’s successful La Pausa charity t-shirt that symbolises hope springing eternal) is made from actual steel and will oxidise and age over time. Finally, the numbers on the back have a 3D pearlescent effect, and you can select your number of choice when purchasing. These artefacts, brought to life by Avery Dennison, must be seen in the flesh to be appreciated.
Le Ballon Ultimate Team Home Shirt is available at leballonfc.com
For American customers, The Football Boutique will carry a small number of the shirts, while in Korea, Nivelcrack and Over The Pitch will both be carrying a limited amount.
Lookbook photos by Celia Spenard-Ko (@ceeesk).
