It comes as no surprise that Copenhagen streetwear brand Les Deux are big fans of basketball: anyone who has visited their vast HQ on the outskirts of the city couldn’t miss the court set in the centre of the office space (conveniently near the bar…) for end-of-day hoop shooting.
As a brand too, they have often taken inspiration from the sense of community created on urban street corners across the US where locals gather to play. However, for a special collection just released exclusively with Zalando, they went a bit more upscale Ivy League and based it on legendary Yale University and its basketball team.
The unisex offering features the distinctive collegiate Yale typeface and bulldog mascot on 90s-inspired oversized pieces that would look as good in the street as on the court. We particularly loved the retro-styled tracksuits, stripy knits and classic varsity jackets in technical nylon and wool. There are even versions for juniors too if they are showing an interest in either sport or fashion.
To launch the collection, Graham got invited to Berlin to see the local team the Berlin Braves play a knockout tournament in a beautiful 1907 church hall, converted into a court for the evening. Needless to say, he knows nothing about the game at all but, with the help of a very entertaining commentator, a live DJ and a couple of glasses of rather good riesling, it was a lot of fun. It was great to see the collection actually worn in the real context of sport rather than just on models. And at least we can look the part even if we are totally incapable of leaping that high and scoring.
The Les Deux Yale collection is available exclusively through Zalando and Les Deux stores.
