The collaborations between teams are soccer jersey's future?

During a Ligue 1 match Sunday between ESTAC Troyes and AS Saint-Étienne, two teams that are fighting to not be relegated, two very peculiar things happened. The first was a Martin Solveig pre-game concert, who also made the new intro for the Troyes players using his big hit “All Stars”. The second is an initiative by Le Coq Sportif, the kit suppliers for both teams, who has taken advantage of this specific occasion to create a mash-up jersey with both club’s colors in it. The Troyes blue take the left side of the jersey, while the Saint-Étienne green is on the opposite side, divided by a white central stripe where the Le Coq Sportif crest is located. 

Both Troyes and Saint-Étienne are in fact the only two teams in Europe's top five leagues to have Le Coq Sportif as their technical sponsor, following the end of their contract with Fiorentina, so the match was the perfect stage for this tribute. Made in Le Coq Sportif's main factory in the region of Romilly-sur-Seine, near Troyes, the shirt is a unique piece that was given away at half-time to a lucky local fan. 

A unique jersey both as a number and as a concept, which opens up endless possibilities for customization and cross-branding as has happened in recent years in fashion with The Swap between Fendi and Versace and the Hacker Project between Gucci and Balenciaga. But the controversial success of these projects underscores the importance of weighing very carefully every choice that goes in this direction, especially in a field like soccer jerseys that enters even more than high fashion into the heritage and identity of a community.

Although unusual, this is not the first time that such an operation has been carried out, although it is rarely seen between teams involved in the same competition. In April, Chattanooga FC, a team from Florida, created their away jersey for the current season, replacing the logo of their official sponsor Volkswagen with that of the German team Wolfsburg. A peculiar union caused by a Wolfsburg tour of Florida in 2017 that kicked off a series of activities between the two teams that ended with the creation of a kit together. 

Over the years, Nike and Adidas have also made multiple celebratory jerseys by juxtaposing various editions to create collectible pieces. The U.S. company for example has created kits for Barcelona, Manchester City and Arsenal on special occasions for both the team and the brand while Adidas in 2018 launched a collection dedicated to the 2018 World Cup with a retro mash-up between various national team jerseys sponsored by the brand with the three stripes. Obviously none of these jerseys were then used during an official competition but could the time come when a mash-up jersey will actually see the field?