Inside Venezia FC's 2022-23 rebrand

Long sleeves, black shirt, gold badge - are you in?

Last year, a relatively small Italian team made waves far beyond its home city. Newly-promoted Venezia FC turned heads after unveiling both its home and away kits. The two jerseys, designed alongside Kappa, mixed its traditional black, green and orange in innovative new patterns, celebrating the club and its world-famous home city.

The kits, and the way they were unveiled, helped earn Venezia FC the nickname of "the world's coolest club." "It's slightly uncomfortable when that's thrown around," says Ted Philipakos, the club's New York-born Chief Marketing Officer, "We don't want people to think that was our goal, because it wasn't."

Instead, the kits were part of a wider aim, helping to recontextualize the club within Italian football. "We're just looking to represent the club and city with real importance, which should be unconditioned by whether we're winning or losing games," Philipakos continues.

"The club has a 114-year history, and it has seen highs and lows through the divisions, but it should always be a source of pride and something to rally around. All the details are out of respect and in service of that mission."

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The latest evolution of this mission has been a partnership with renowned cultural consultancy Bureau Borsche. Venezia FC recently worked with the agency to launch a complete rebrand – including an updated version of its crest – and has also recruited them to design their kits for the 2022-23 season.

Venezia FC

The decision to collaborate with Bureau Borsche – who have worked on projects for Supreme, Balenciaga and Nike – began after the company signed on to design an identity for the Venice Pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale.

"[It] was a modern take on the lion of Saint Mark, the symbol of Venice and of Venezia FC," Philipakos says, "so they had all the context you would want to approach this project with Venezia."

For Philipakos, and Venezia more widely, the work alongside Bureau Borsche has built on the shared values at the heart of the club.

"We both care deeply about history, tradition and the community, so we were on the same page in the importance of research and attention to detail," he adds. "The outgoing crest was obsolete. It was not popular with our local fans, it was not in line with the heritage of the club, and it was not in line with the evolution of the club's aesthetic or modern design in general. Now, our new identity checks all those boxes."

The relaunched badge – a central part of Bureau Borsche's rebrand for the club – has helped strengthen the bond between Venezia FC and the city of Venice, highlighting some key characteristics of the city.

"The winged lion returning to its original gold, as it had almost always been throughout the club's 114-year history, was very significant," says Philipakos. "And the abstract wing serving as a reference to the Venetian gondola's iron prow was a clever touch. Overall, the new identity has been extremely well received in Venice."

Venezia FC

The latest stage of the collaboration between Venezia and Bureau Borsche is the design of the team's 2022-23 kits. This began with a training range, unveiled alongside the rebrand, and has now extended to the club's home kit. In many ways, the design of the kit – alongside technical partners Kappa – is an embodiment of Philipakos' vision for Venezia, helping to update the club by celebrating its heritage and deepening the ties to its home city.

"Taking inspiration from the aesthetics of the 1990s, which was an important era in the history of the club, we wanted to give a contemporary update to a vintage look, blending the past and present," he explains. "So, we've featured long sleeves and collars in the collection, and the home shirt's taping is also a traditional element, but it has come together with a very clean modern look, which should feel relevant on and off the pitch.

"The home shirt is finished with gold embellishments that add a sense of importance to the shirt, while gold also has a historical significance to the city and club and always fits very well with the club's traditional orange, black, and green. Bureau Borsche and Kappa have been excellent partners on the project, in design and production, respectively."