Craig Green and Champion collaborated for the first time to deliver a collection focused on themes of functionality and community. The London-based designer dug into the Champion archives and found inspiration in the college uniforms from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. 

“In our own collections, we always start with the idea of community and the idea of being part of something. Through exploring the collegiate archives at Champion it inspired us to think about community from a different perspective for this collaboration. For the ‘decade story’ of the capsule collection, it was important to us that the pieces embraced Champion’s history authentically, featuring specific collegiate graphics each from specific decades,” Green told HYPEBEAST about the collection.

Green added topstitched patches with numerical symbols to represent each decade then layered their own symbols on top of these graphics, using the construction of traditional collegiate-patches. The patches are featured on the pieces’ back, while the front of each piece is entirely black.

Green also focused on Champion’s technical innovations, particularly the ribbed gusset, featured on sweatshirts, hoodies and jerseys. This capsule reinterprets and exaggerates the ribbed gusset. 

“Over time these technical design details have become an iconic aspect of Champion’s products and aesthetic, even in cases where the reverse-weave aspect is no longer present, the ribbed details from the original garments still remain now as a signature design detail. For the ‘functional story’ in the capsule the idea was to explore this idea even further, and in a more extreme way,” stated the designer. 

The collection will launch at Champion’s London and Amsterdam stores. It will be available on the European web store starting September 3.