Lionel Messi’s sold-out Inter Miami home jersey has been ranked as one of 15 fashion items that ‘defined’ 2023 by Vogue, just five months after the Argentine signed with the MLS club.
Along with Martine Rose’s Nike Shox, once worn by U.S. women’s national team star, Megan Rapinoe, Messi’s ‘non-Barbie’ pink Miami shirt is the only sportswear with ties to soccer that made it onto the fashion magazine’s list, which was published on Nov. 29.
‘Fashion’s love affair with soccer kicked up a notch or two in 2023,’ wrote Vogue’s Laia Garcia-Furtado on the Herons’ No. 10’s jersey.
‘Last year the Argentinian Lionel Messi, arguably the best player of his generation, led his country’s team to victory at the FIFA World Cup, and in July of this year, he shocked everyone by announcing he would be joining the Inter Miami team in the United States’ Major League Soccer. (It would become less surprising to a lot of non-soccer aficionados when the Beckham documentary premiered a few months later and they found out David Beckham is part owner of the team.)
‘Immediately following the announcement, the generic Inter Miami jersey, in an unexpected shade of un–Barbie pink, sold out, giving rise to a rich bootleg industry. Now, nearly five months later, the official Messi jersey, sporting his number 10, remains wait-listed in most sizes on the Adidas website.’
Just like most soccer fans around the globe, David Beckham, had to wait for the release of more Messi jerseys in order to gift wrap them, after it had been revealed that Adidas was ‘selling more than they were able to make’, despite his status as a co-owner of Inter Miami.
The seven-time Ballon d’Or winner’s grand arrival in America has sparked a frenzy across all 50 states, with ticket prices for Miami matches not only skyrocketing but the team’s merchandise selling like never before, too.
