Although buzz about the World Cup is barely audible here in the U.S., European excitement is scoring beyond the pub. The European fashion industry has caught the fever with a number of World Cup-inspired pieces:

• Prada, as part of their Unspoken Dialogue t-shirt series that invites edgy artists to reinterpret the luxury brand, has commissioned French artist HNT (aka Honet) to commemorate the World Cup on cotton. The result is a head butting Little Prince with a $285 price tag that makes it more of a collector’s piece than a beach cover-up.

• H&M has launched a World Cup Collection featuring t-shirts, vests, caps, badges, flip-flops, swimwear and bags with a retro-vibe. With flip-flops around 6 bucks and bikinis for around 10, it’s probably a cheaper way to celebrate than hitting up the local bar to watch a game.

• Colette: Parisians can bypass watching games in the local bar-tabac by catching a screening at the lifestyle emporium’s basement bar. The store is also stocked with an eclectic selection of World Cup products, such as Nike’s limited edition Footscape woven sneakers and t-shirts with names of fave players by Rather Not Say.

This entry was posted by Hashem Bajwa, on 08 June 2006. You can leave your response.