Juventus and Liberal Youth Ministry Took Over DSM LA for a Special Pop-up Event
HYPEBEAST spoke with Antonio Zaragoza and Paul Pogba about the latest football-fashion crossover.
This past weekend, Juventus took over Dover Street Market Los Angeles for a special collaborative kit with Liberal Youth Ministry.
The sold-out capsule sees the newly blacked-out 2022/23 away kit distressed to punk-like proportions in three different colorways and a hybrid-hoodie iteration. Most visibly noticeable are the tears and distressing throughout the top — giving way to a vibrant second layer of fabric that subtly reflects this new era of football that we are living in.
While football and fashion have always shared a link as far back as the 1980s, the merging of the two has soared to new heights over the past decade. Just like the teams performing on the pitch, the collaborations too, have come with a blend of bravado and competitive spirit — whether PSG x Jordan Brand, Yohji Yamamoto x adidas, Nike x Off-White™ to Juventus x Palace.
Photo: Courtesy Of Adidas, Juventus And Liberal Youth Ministry.
Photo: Courtesy Of Adidas, Juventus And Liberal Youth Ministry.
Photo: Courtesy Of Adidas, Juventus And Liberal Youth Ministry.
Photo: Courtesy Of Adidas, Juventus And Liberal Youth Ministry.
Photo: Courtesy Of Adidas, Juventus And Liberal Youth Ministry.
This latest drop aims to capture the “spirituality” of football, said LYM founder and designer Antonio Zaragoza in an interview with HYPEBEAST. “It transcends the sport itself. I always love seeing footage of the fans cheering in the stadium because it feels deeper than the sport.”
Zaragoza, who is born and bred in Guadalajara, Mexico recalled the deep connection that football has within his family and home country. “It’s always in the subconscious of Mexico and Latin America — you almost feel it like a religion,” he added. Just like the raucousness found in terrace culture, punk is another movement that is largely ingrained within LYM’s fabric. A “future aesthetic movement,” according to Zaragoza, that captures an energy that is deeper than whatever visual or aesthetic that you see on the surface.
“Juventus, in Latin, means ‘youth’ — so it felt right,” he went on, adding that the capsule “started with the idea to have the black jersey as a canvas to create. I wanted to do so much that my brand is really known for — from distressing to overlaying.” During our conversation, he was also quick to note of Jorge Campos, Mexico’s goalkeeper during the ’90s — who as a child, Zaragoza described as having an almost god-like aura. Seeing the color and patterns of the Juve sub-layer — Campos and those iconic neon kits must have been on his mind.
Photo: Courtesy Of Adidas, Juventus And Liberal Youth Ministry.
Photo: Courtesy Of Adidas, Juventus And Liberal Youth Ministry.
Photo: Courtesy Of Adidas, Juventus And Liberal Youth Ministry.
Photo: Courtesy Of Adidas, Juventus And Liberal Youth Ministry.
The party really started to kick off as Manuel Locatelli, Denis Zakaria, Dušan Vlahović and Paul Pogba made their way into the shop — the latter of which threw on a special kit endowed with Swarovski crystals. When asked about the new era of football-fashion crossovers, Pogba told HYPBEAST that “it all matches — fashion and music and football — everything goes together.” As previously stated, this symbiotic relationship between each sphere has existed for some time, but is now being championed en masse — from the die hard fans to the largest fashion houses in the world.
Despite rooted in competition, the result of these partnerships feels more uniting, regardless of what part of the world you come from or who you support.
For more on football, AC Milan reminisces on European success with its PUMA 2022/23 away jersey.
Dover Street Market Los Angeles
608 Imperial St
Los Angeles, CA 90021
