Both the political and religious centre of modern Atlantis, a shrine of two marble lions of Piazzetta dei Leoncini, the symbol of the sacred temple of the Evangelist himself. The view transforms into a divine creature, the portraited picture of a restless reality, the figure of pre-renaissance architecture, lying between the Doge's Palace and the Jacopo Sansovino's Biblioteca. 

The brickwork lies in a herringbone pattern, with light-coloured stone running parallel to the long axis of the Piazza. The downpour strikes on the roof titles, the Acqua Alta surges from the Adriatic to rage a rain-swollen flood. The scirocco wind, blown by unbridled bursts, enrages the thunderstorm, which arises the canals. The day after, the apocalypse scenario, enlightened by the heating sun, shows a marvellous postcard of the Bel Paese. Chattering tourists, surrounded by terraced houses.

The goofy boats dive in the stagnant water and the sound echoes against the ancient walls. Inside the official store, the floor-to-ceiling photograph catches the eye of the customers, taking pictures of the shimmering golden boutique. The visitors, filled with loving sentiments, are astonished by the elegant finesse, and the sporting culture of the most fashionable club in the world. 

The Venezia FC kit has become a collector's item, an object of worship and the flagship evidence of the sports’ poetic, illustrious history of a Serie B team. This heavenly representation is praiseworthy, especially when the sought-after item is spiritual. The hanging jerseys on the rails in the Rialto have been the key to popularity. La Serenissima, in spite of the contrariness of the fashion industry, obtains a well-established fame. The stunning Greek model The-opisti Pourliotopoulou has fuelled further furore among football supporters, through a winking look, aiming to win over the audience. The design can be an asset, but also a double-edged sword. It must choose how to lend oneself to the virtual audience and cultivate credibility too. Kim Kardashian wore the Roma shirt, whilst Drake both Napoli and the Azzurri uniform, and there's Larry Nance Jr, who has been seen in the Venezia FC top. 

Notwithstanding, Chief Brand Officer Ted Philipakos reckons the New Orleans Pelicans player may have put on a forgery. After all, the good, owing to its success, had to be restocked multiple times by Kappa. A mass phenomenon, a silent revolution which marks the popular image of football, enchanted of the appealing imaginary of fashion. Last season, the golden lion is rebranded into a new football crest, a far-future graphic framed by the renowned German studio Bu-reau Borsche.

 Ted Philipakos himself is a Yankee, working as a football agent and a scholar. He is a lecturer at New York University’s Tisch Institute for Global Sport, and he covers issues about football and other practices. “There was a technological evolution, a generational change and a psychographic shift, where this new generation had an entirely different relationship with football”, the author declares in an interview for Esquire Magazine. After yet another bankruptcy in 2013, the club was bought by James A. Daniels, Chief Executive Officer of High Ridge Brands, a holding responsible for both the production and distribution of detergents in North America.

In 2020 the ownership transfers to VFC Newco 2020 LLC and the chairman-ship is assigned to New York Stock Exchange Duncan Niederauer, who gives credit to the New Englander writer: “From the beginning, the stylisation of the brand, the importance we’ve given to the brand, it transcended what league we happened to be in”. The club follows up the intuition of Philipakos, who gives voice to cultural luminaries such as Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale artistic director, and Venetian street-photographer Eric Scaggiante, documenting, from the terraces of the town, the 2021/2022 season. 

The club profits from fans’ faith, feeding the fashion for never-ending classics, an invaluable tool in raising, among the supporters, a burgeoning nostalgia. For instance, the rugby legend's son – designer Jonathan Anderson – has sported an Ireland top on the Milan Fashion Week runway, honouring his dad on Father's Day. The fashion and streetwear pieces are the entry point, not a means to an end, but the end itself. 

A vision which shall pitch in the civic pride, so that the social cohesion may integrate humane minorities into the broader Arancioneroverde community. The Kappa home kit, in the year of the 18th Architecture Biennale, emphasises the liaison between the island and mainland souls of the fans, retaining the minimalism of pure forms. 

The narrative continuum of English photographer Sam Gregg, a tribute to architect Carlo Scarpa, in order to preserve the milieu of artistic sensitivity: “I would appreciate a critic to discover – in my work – unique intentions, namely the will to be within the tradition”. A black jersey embellished on the neck with gold piping, hallmarks of the Venetian designer to ennoble 

The recent relegation does not affect the mindset of the club, which conveys original story-telling through stylish and influencing creativity. The new away top is white, with green and orange stripes on both the bottom of the uniform and the collar of the polo, whereas the logo stays golden. 

The launch of the collection takes place in Harry’s bar, a cult place where to taste good cocktails and delicious Cicchetti. The saloon has been visited by Katherine Hepburn, Andy Warhol, Orson Welles, Peggy Guggenheim, and Ernest Hemingway, who took inspiration from it for Across the River and Into the Trees. 

The pre-match jersey has vertical stripes equally divided between the colours of orange, black and green, on which the logo in white stands out. Football is not all about the players, but the fans. The protagonists of the promotional campaign are pupils, the Giudecca fishermen and craftsmen, and daily life people linked to each other by the common thread of being Venetian. The ultimate recognition of a cultural legacy, the patrimony inherited by the citizens to claim glory and achievement.

The third kit of La Serenissima honours the gondoliers who, likewise Char-on, the Dante’s hell shipman, navigate in the turbid water of canals. Whilst the combination of black and white horizontal stripes resembles the characteristic uniform of these mystical figures, the red collar recalls the flag of San Marco golden lion, the symbol of the modern Atlantis.