MILAN — Tiffany & Co. is strengthening its ties to sports, this time taking the field in Italy.
In a first for the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned jewelry brand, the company has partnered with an Italian soccer team and created the special trophy that will be bestowed to inductees into AC Milan’s Hall of Fame.
Presented by Emirates, one of the club’s sponsors, the Hall of Fame initiative is part of the activations marking the Milanese team’s 125th anniversary this year.
The silver trophy designed by Tiffany & Co. for AC Milan’s Hall of Fame.
Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.
For the occasion, artisans at Tiffany & Co.’s hollowware workshop in Cumberland, Rhode Island, crafted a 12-inch sterling silver tray engraved with the AC Milan insignia, the Hall of Fame and Emirates logos and the recipient’s name.
Launched in October, the Hall of Fame project intends to honor the individuals that have shaped the trajectory of the club and left a mark on its longstanding history on and off the pitch. The inaugural inductee is the club’s legendary defender and honorary vice president Franco Baresi, who will be soon joined by three new members voted by fans worldwide and to be revealed later this week.
AC Milan’s former defender and honorary vice president Franco Baresi, wearing the club’s anniversary kit.
Courtesy of AC Milan
The announcement will build momentum around the championship match against Genoa on Sunday, which will be preceded by a ceremony celebrating the team’s milestone and the new inductees to its Hall of Fame, who will be all former strikers.
The match will also see AC Milan’s players wearing the special anniversary kit the club unveiled earlier this month and that resonated on social media for its old-school aesthetic, subtle placement of logos and overall scarcity of sponsors’ insignias. Designed by Puma, the kit also banked on fans’ engagement as it took into consideration input submitted by supporters via the “Design Our Jersey, Design Our Legacy” campaign. For example, the red-and-black long-sleeve jersey features vintage elements such as broad stripes from the ‘50s, the club’s original badge from 1899 and its devil mascot printed inside.
Along its regular version dropped at the club’s stores, Puma’s e-commerce and select retailers worldwide, a limited-edition style is also available in 1,899 units, each coming with a serial number on the sleeve and packaged as a collector’s item.
American soccer player Christian Pulisic on the left, posing with teammates Mike Maignan, Alvaro Morata and Nadia Nadim wearing the club’s anniversary kit.
Courtesy of AC Milan
During its nearly two centuries of history, Tiffany & Co. has handcrafted some of the world’s most revered sporting trophies, including those for the top American soccer leagues. Since 2008, the company has handcrafted the Major League Soccer championship cup and recently, the National Women’s Soccer League championship trophies. It also crafted the FIFA Club World Cup winners’ trophy in collaboration with FIFA.
Elsewhere, the company is behind the iconic Vince Lombardi Trophy presented annually to the NFL Super Bowl championship team; it makes a total of nine NBA trophies and two WNBA trophies in basketball, as well as five separate awards for the U.S. Open when it comes to tennis; it crafts cups for Major League Baseball including the World Series, the National League Championship Series and the American League Championship Series; it has a longstanding history with women’s hockey league and auto racing, which culminated in its first Formula 1 trophy unveiled for the Miami Grand Prix in 2022.
A look from the AC Milan x New York Yankees collection released earlier this year.
Courtesy of AC Milan
Its new tie-up with AC Milan also speaks of the latter’s brand elevation and U.S.-centric focus, which has accelerated since the Italian club was acquired in 2022 by RedBird Capital Partners, the American investment firm founded in 2014 by Gerry Cardinale.
To this end, the many activities the club implemented since the summer to mark its anniversary included a collaboration with the New York Yankees, resulting in a lifestyle collection that saw the baseball team’s crest tweaked for the first time. Unveiled in September, the drop was followed by a capsule collection AC Milan released with Off-White during Milan Fashion Week that month. As reported, the two parties first signed a deal in 2022, marking the first collaboration with a soccer team for the brand founded by the late designer Virgil Abloh.
Soccer players Angelica Soffia, Mike Maignan, Alvaro Morata, Allyson Swaby and Tijjani Reijnders wearing the AC Milan x Off-White collection.
Courtesy of AC Milan
Other initiatives celebrating AC Milan’s milestone included the opening of a store in Milan’s central Via Dante earlier this year, flanked by a separate area next door dedicated to the club’s high-end collaborations. In addition to the aforementioned, these most recently saw the launch of a limited-edition photo book released with luxury publishing house Assouline, with part of the images also showcased in an open-air exhibition outside the store; a panettone created by the city’s historic pastry shop Gattullo, and an AC Milan-themed Bearbrick, the OG streetwear toy from Japan’s Medicom Toy.
AC Milan’s 125th anniversary photo book published by Assouline.
Courtesy of AC Milan
