SportsBiz Spotlight | FC88

Lucy Roebuck

Mar 9, 2023

Our latest SportsBiz Spotlight shines on FC88, a sustainable fashion brand focused on creating ‘a brand new history’ through up cycling former football apparel…

So, tell us about FC88…

FC88 is a brand focused on improving the sustainability of sports apparel, and giving pieces a new life whether this be as a jersey, hat, bag and so on.

Over 70% of professional spots wear is destroyed after use, usually within a year, we want to change this and encourage consumers, manufacturers and sports organisations to consider the upcycling potential of garments. This adds value to stock that would usually be destroyed, and instead gives high-quality products a new lease of life whilst also helping with excess inventory.

We aim to give each piece at least 2 years of additional lifespan. The upcycling element also helps to offset the initial harm that producing sports apparel can bring, as the amount of water used in production and some of the materials used have a negative impact on the environment. However, the durability of such items mean that adding this additional lifespan can reduce the harm over a period of time.

What does FC88 do and what’s your main purpose?

We believe that the story of a football jersey shouldn’t end when the season does, and should live on in its current form or as a new item. Each year, new jerseys and products are created and are the new ‘big thing’, often leading to those from previous years sinking to the bottom of the pile.

We want to work with Clubs and organisations to create upcycled products to help solve the issues with deadstock and sustainability. We believe our solution can help with this and reduce the amount of stock that is being destroyed and instead create something new, unique and exciting.

Nobody else is doing this on the scale we are aiming for, which provides our USP. So far, we have launched our initial collection with over 30,000 new items from old, misprinted apparel. We have further ambitions to continue this and work directly with clubs and organisations.

If failure wasn’t a possibility, what would be your biggest ambition?

To create the biggest second hand sports apparel platform where shoppers around the world can buy our upcycled goods. From a sustainability point of view, we upcycle because it isn’t allowed (yet) to reuse the football apparel as football apparel. So we rework them into other accessories.

Our biggest ambition is to resell the (used) football apparel from all football clubs and federations to fans. Because it is the best option for the environment and because there is a huge target group of fans that can’t afford to buy a new jersey each season.

What if we service them with second hand (but in good condition, nicely washed) football apparel? Maybe even worn by your heroes? The possibilities and opportunities are endless.

How many people are involved at FC88?

A grand total of 8 people work for FC88 currently. Our two founders, our production team and our design team. Our staff are based in both the Netherlands and Portugal so we have a real European focus but want to work with clubs all over the world.

Who do you usually work with, and who would be your dream collab?

So far, we launched our initial collection using a variety of clubs jerseys. Since then, we have focused now origin directly with clubs to try and help with their headstock and provide a use case for it. You can view all our collaborations here.

Some of our latest ones include Toulouse FC, Stade Rennais and Atalanta Bergamo! The items we have created look amazing and range from hats to rucksacks to laptop cases – showing the versatility of the materials we have available and the different ways we can upcycle products.

Our dream collaboration would be PSG or Venezia FC. Because their football apparel is so unique from a design point of view. Imagine a new bag, made from the Jordan 4th jersey from PSG? That would be an amazing sustainable fashion statement and would really cause a stir in both the football and sustainability worlds. Another ambition is to rework for centralized brands or leagues. For example, rework all deadstock for Nike or working for UEFA on a reworked Champions League collection. Made from the left-over jerseys from teams participating in the CL.