
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi finally join forces â in the name of fashion
Until one of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi hangs up their boots, the purest of football fans will hold out hopes that somewhere, somehow the two greatest players of all time play together on the same team. With 12 Ballon d’Ors between them (it’s 7-5 to Messi), who wouldn’t what to see such a thing happen? Ronaldoâs fairytale return to Manchester United now a nightmare, last weekâs rumours of CR7 heading to Paris Saint Germain to link up with Messi (and his teammates Neymar and Kylian MbappĂ©) were over sooner than they started. As of today, another Parisian institution has managed to pair them up. Louis Vuitton has unveiled a special brand campaign starring the two goats â with no balls in sight. Instead, they are shooting the breeze over a good old fashioned game of chess (played over a signature LV Damier attachĂ© case no less).
Weâre no The Queenâs Gambit experts but do Messiâs king and queen look rather vulnerable? Shot by Annie Leibovitz, the campaign is dubbed âVictory is a State of Mindâ. Messi probably agrees with the sentiment but it wouldnât surprise us if Cristiano Ronaldo tried to change it to âVictory at All Costsâ with a 2006-esque wink â before calling checkmate on the Argentinian and claiming heâs the best.
Time was when luxury fashion houses wouldnât touch football with a barge pole. Then along came David Beckham. 2022 has seen a lot of brands get sporty in aid of the World Cup. In the past few weeks there have been football collabs coming out of our ears â Palace x Umbro, Palace x Gucci, Aries x Roma, New Balance x Stone Island, Adidas x Nigo, Martine Rose footy shirts, we could go on. While some brands are new to embracing footballer fits, LV has been every ballerâs obsession for a long time, feeding its football fix more so than others.
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In a similar vein to Messi and Ronaldo, 2010 saw footballing icons Zidane, Maradona and Pele come together for a cheeky game of foosball in a likely-Parisian cafĂ© (also shot by Leibovitz). In the same year, realising the Fifa World Cup Trophy needed something suitably stylish and safe â itâs valued at more than ÂŁ15m â to be carried around in, LV became the official trophy travel trunk supplier to the World Cup. The OG Jules Rimet trophy will be reeling from jealousy as its fate could have been so different (it was stolen in 1983). Alas, this year marks the fourth special Louis Vuitton trunk to be crafted for whoever wins â England, Brazil, France? Come December 19 when leaving Doha, the victorious team will gladly have the added pleasure of needing to check in this beauty as extra luggage.
Given LVâs spirit animal is travel, itâs a natural tie-in with whatâs hands down the most watched sporting event in the world â so will be another reason to tune into the first game of World Cup 2022 â Qatar vs Ecuador aka the big one â where it’ll be unveiled. Other sporting partnerships (we talking ones with the NBA, Rugby World Cup, tennisâ Davis Cup and the Monaco Grand Prix) date back to the â90s so itâs fair to say victory does tend to âtravel in Louis Vuitton”. Fitting then, that Messi and Ronaldo now do, too.