Fashion Meets FootballMundial Partners

Mundial Partners are redefining the intersection of fashion and football with exclusive collaborations

Chris Savino quit his job immediately. It was the Monday after his company, Mundial Partners, had pulled off their first successful Fashion Meets Football event in New York City. At the time, he worked for a significant media agency. But with his own project gathering steam, there was no need for anything else.

And so began the life of Mundial partners in earnest. The New York-based company, co-founded and run by Savino and David Bettenhausen, has struck the intersection between fashion and the beautiful game. The duo, combining business, fashion and sporting nous, are riding the wave of excitement around the game in America - as well as the appetite for novel streetwear - to create an emerging company that could define how people consume the sport.

"We sought to create a platform that paid homage to football’s outsized impact on defining fashion and culture globally. We felt there was a blank space in the market, and we were the best two guys in the world to build and lead a team in filling this space," Bettenhausen said at an event in Miami.

This is all very new. Savino and Bettenhausen started this as a side project. Savino had a media agency job, while Bettenhausen worked in the software space. They had worked together, alongside the likes of Raheem Taylor-Parkes and USMNT standout Auston Trusty, on some campaigns in the past. And the idea of launching something full time never left.

In July 2024, though, the right moment came. They signed six sponsors in six weeks, and had a real buzz. The big break came soon after, with the duo working alongside Juventus to launch their 2024-25 home kit. That project was a roaring success, with events across New York City - some of which included big names in the fashion and music space - helping roll out one of Europe's most iconic soccer jerseys.

"After we pulled off the launch activation and campaign in NYC, we knew we had something very special," Bettenhausen said.

Since then, things have only improved. At their initial launches, Bettenhausen and Savino made connections with boutique designers in the soccer space. There is Diana Al-Shammari (known on Instagram as thefootballgal), whose floral stitchings in popular kits have gone viral.

There is Gaby Mas of Reebot Fulbol and her repurposed jerseys, which have made waves on social media. And then there's Akki Zhao, whose attempts to bring traditional Asian art into high fashion have seen her permeate various parts of sporting culture.

Piece them - and many more - together, and you have something of a cross-cultural movement that taps into the way that the game exists in the real world.

"While collaborations between clubs, brands, designers, and artists are thriving, we felt there was no dedicated platform to bring these synergies to life in an in-person setting. Fashion Meets Football was born to fill that gap – creating spaces where people from diverse backgrounds can connect, share ideas, and be inspired to collaborate further," Savino explained.

Fundamentally, though, this is all about trends. Soccer has never really existed in a vacuum. There has always been more to this game than 22 men or women on a pitch. But recently, thanks to the rise of social media and the reality that many professional athletes are also brands, personal expression has become increasingly relevant.

That starts, and ends, with fashion. Footballers love it. From expensive brands to the simplicity of piecing together a standout fit, what they wear is becoming a talking point. That has only been helped by the rise of outside celebrity culture.

Off White and AC Milan have collaborated on various capsules. Travis Scott and Nike came together for a secret small-sided indoor tournament. Even the investment in Wrexham FC by Ryan Reynold and Rob Mcelhenney is indicative of the sport's ability to proliferate.

And most importantly, it's about timing. The World Cup, to held in the United States, is just more than 500 days away. The countdown has already begun. For some, that means it's time to focus more on the game, follow the storylines, maybe study up on U.S. soccer. But for those already involved, it's a time to dream, invent and invest. And that is exactly what Mundial Partners are getting right.

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