From the jerseys on the field to the merchandise off the field to the clothing line of French center back Aurelien Collin, fashion has always been a priority for Sporting Kansas City. And with Friday's release of the new Sporting Club fashion line, fans will now have the opportunity to rep their favorite MLS team in even more places around Kansas City.
"This is all about growing our business and growing our brand," Sporting KC VP of Merchandise John Moncke said. "Sporting Club has always stood for fashion. You have seen that in our jersey design to the merchandise we have released and now we have our own fashion line to bring things full circle.
"We currently have a great partner in adidas who excels in performance driven product. But there is a whole side of the business that is more fashion driven and that is where we hope to go with Sporting Club brand."
Moncke has been working on the concept since 2011 and is excited to see this project come to fruition.
"One of the very first conversations I had with [Sporting Club CEO] Robb Heineman was about the rebrand," Moncke said. "When I heard what Sporting KC had planned, I wanted to approach Sporting Club like a fashion brand. Robb had always said he wanted to build a lifestyle brand, so we are all very excited to get this off the ground."
Sporting Club brand is available for purchase on Sporting Style's website and will be available for purchase at all home games, while supplies last. The line will not be available in retail outlets around the city. Although the line includes cardigans, polos and T-shirts for men, Moncke says the Sporting Club brand will have a major focus on women's apparel moving forward.
"Sporting Club brand is really geared toward the women's side of the business," Moncke said. "We are going to offer beautifully designed clothes, but they are also clothes that you can wear to a game to show off your Sporting KC pride. Although we have T-shirts included in the line, the shirts are very much fashion forward. I think our fans will love the selection."
