Milan is the new European capital of football memorabilia The Soccer Archive played a key role
Milan, together with Paris, is one of Europe's capitals of fashion. There is no doubt about it. Now Milan, leveraging its cosmopolitan dimension that in a few months will make it the center of the world on the occasion of the Winter Olympic Games, is decisively moving into a new fashion-related sector: football jerseys. If London and Manchester represent the equivalent of Mecca for fans and collectors, outside the United Kingdom there has always been a gap. As if there had always been a lack of a connection point between supply and demand. Although football is by far the most widespread and followed sport, there was no city that decisively intercepted blokecore, collecting and fandom to become a point of reference. Now that place is being occupied by Milan.
After the success of the three pop-up stores, The Soccer Archive has opened a permanent location in Milan on Corso di Porta Ticinese. "London is unbeatable as a football city - tells us Pedro Meroño, Product Specialist for The Soccer Archive -. But Milan is a great city because Italian culture has three pillars: football, religion and food. It has a more European dimension, for example, because here fashion is strongly felt and this allows us to have broader participation in the city's dynamics at the level of brand collaborations, content creation and even just spreading the word artistically and culturally. The initial idea wasn't for a permanent store but the context pushed us to try this opportunity."
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The reference to London is linked to The Soccer Archive's flagship store in Soho opened in June 2024 by the founders Robert Armin and Paolo Brambilla, a meeting point or a casual destination for anyone who has a passion for football and its aesthetics. These are two elements that act as the trait d’union between England and Italy since one of the aspects that has allowed Milan to transform into the European capital of football shirts is football tourism. The shop, besides ordinary passersby, is swarmed by fans who come to the city to follow their team in the Champions League: "We are in Milan because we want Milan and because the people of Milan have shown they want to be part of a community like ours. But it's undeniable that tourism is a big help because we don't only have jerseys of Italian clubs, we have, for example, a wall with more than 100 Premier League jerseys and a selection of England national team jerseys. We have become a meeting point for traveling supporters. There were fans from Kairat Almaty and fans from Brann who were in Italy for the Europa League match against Bologna. It's paradoxical but the character of this shop is almost museum-like and cultural."
The word Pedro repeats most often in our meeting is community. For him the football shirt is the glue that holds different generations together: "90% of the people who pass by, take a look and then come in. By having products starting from 5 euros, anyone can have the opportunity to buy something and feel part of this community." At the same time the shirt becomes bait to attract someone into the world of collecting and memorabilia: "The other day we sold a copy of FIFA 98 for Playstation One. We have framed pieces made with newspaper clippings or vintage magazines, we have match programs. We sold one from the 2007 Champions League final played in Athens between Liverpool and Milan. Many people discover match programs for the first time when they enter the shop. Some are amazed by newspapers from the late '90s or early 2000s. It's a way to throw you into the universe of that era. These things not only trigger nostalgia but they open the eyes of younger customers. The beauty of football is that it is and will be a passion for millions of people. That is a certainty."
