Soccer fans have been buzzing for weeks about Nigeria’s shirts, to the delight of supplier Nike but not so much among folks back home who consider the $85 price tag out of reach. The away shirts are a screeching bright green, white and black with trippy jagged edging on a chevron pattern that may just be the World Cup’s shining Rorschach moment, along with an ode to the country’s style and pop culture energy.
The we-have-arrived look is a modern reinvention of Nigeria’s 1994 kits, the first time the country qualified for the World Cup. The new shirts sold out in minutes on the first day of sales in some spots, including Nike’s flagship store in London and online, Hoppins said, after stakeholders decided early on to go bold and market the strips in a collection that also includes hats, T-shirts and jackets.
“We’ve never seen anything like this before in terms of excitement, in terms of people queuing around the block,” Hoppins said, referring to the crowd that showed up June 1. “It’s something that Nike has never really done before, which is going all out and having fun with it. We want Nigeria to be everyone’s second team.”
To Simon Doonan, soccer nut and creative ambassador at large for Barneys New York, when it comes to out-there World Cup shirts, you’re either in or you’re out.
“The ones you remember are the ones that are crazy, but some leagues are risk averse,” said Doonan, author of the new book “Soccer Style: The Magic and Madness.”
“The World Cup is a carnival. It’s not supposed to be a beacon of restraint and good taste,” he said.
Doonan’s favorites on the flamboyant front: Croatia’s red-and-white checkerboard, reminiscent of the country’s flag and medieval coat of arms — and, some say, — the Big Boy burger chain (Nike); Colombia’s red-and-blue lightning bolts coming out of the armpits against a bright yellow background (Adidas); and Belgium’s horizontal dash of red-and-yellow Argyle, like the socks (also Adidas).
Doonan is also a fan of vertical stripes (hello, Argentina in blue and white, just like your flag and your kits from your 1978 World Cup win).
There are some jerseys he’s not hugely fond of as a matter of personal preference. “I’m very obsessed with symmetry, in life and in my work, so the Spain shirt, even though I’m a big fan of the Spanish team, the asymmetry of those shirts and that sort of folkloric zigzag only on one side, completely freaks me out,” Doonan said of the dash of yellow, blue and red against, well, red.
And then there’s Nigeria, the social media and retail king heading into the World Cup. USA Today
