Start with the archive. Champion and PDF built their capsule collection by digging through the vintage pieces of the American brand. Fourteen apparel pieces, 4 footwear models, 2 accessories and a basketball: a collection bearing the signature of Domenico Formichetti, Italian designer and founder of PDF, presented as a pre-launch during Milan Fashion Week.

For Formichetti, the starting point was clear: “We started from vintage Champion pieces, and what you saw today is just a small part of the collaboration compared to the rest of the collection.” PDF brings the distinctive graphics, the vibrant colours, the references to street culture; Champion brings the heritage, the iconicity, an archive that doesn’t need to be reinvented — only reinterpreted. At the centre of it all is basketball, a discipline that for Formichetti is a constant source of inspiration and the natural meeting point between the two brands.

The Milan launch didn’t stop at the store. The programme moved to the Campetto della Resistenza for an open 1vs1 street basketball tournament, led by Matt Kiatipis — a former Canadian college player and one of the most influential figures in international digital basketball. “Milan gave me the name ‘1v1 King’ before I even became MK,” he said on the day. “Bringing the 1vs1 basketball world back to where it all started, alongside a friend and an incredible brand, means everything to me.”

After Milan, the project moves to Paris on 26 June, coinciding with Paris Fashion Week, with a new day of events across the Rue Saint-Honoré store, the Les Halles basketball court and the Champion Showroom on Rue de Turenne. The capsule is already available in Milan at Via Torino, from late June in Paris, and from 2 July on championstore.com.