LineUp x A Store Like 94 Collaborate For Rai PSG Rug
Thu, Oct 07.21
Parisian vintage football store LineUp has teamed up with the talented British A Store Like 94 for a 90's bootleg tapestry classic. Former Brazilian captain of PSG,
Raí, is the subject of this big nineties energy design.
If you don't know who Raí is then head to YouTube. A look at his highlights will shock you if you haven't seen him play before - he was an absolute phenom for PSG back in the days when they didn't have the riches they have now. He played at the club from 1993 to 1998 as an attacking midfield powerhouse. He was strong, could dribble, could shoot and scored and assisted a ton of goals.
If you don't know who Raí is then head to YouTube. A look at his highlights will shock you if you haven't seen him play before - he was an absolute phenom for PSG back in the days when they didn't have the riches they have now. He played at the club from 1993 to 1998 as an attacking midfield powerhouse. He was strong, could dribble, could shoot and scored and assisted a ton of goals.
It wasn't all rosie for Raí though at the start. He endured a difficult debut season at the club playing second fiddle to Valdo in the middle of the park. In season two he quickly established himself as the main man at the club and didn't look back. This earned him the nickname "capt'ain Raí."
His natural class wasn't the only thing that endeared him to the PSG faithful. Raí was a very hard working player who sacrificed a lot for the team. A player with immense standards and professionalism. He's held in such high regard that he was voted as PSG's greatest ever player in a magazine the club put out documenting their 50 year history in 2020. Not bad when you consider the players who have played for the club. Think George Weah, Ronaldinho, and Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Raí won seven trophies at the club and highest accomplishment was winning the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996. In the second leg he scored twice in a 3–1 home win against Parma. This was PSG's first big continental trophy which they are desperate to follow up.
“I feel very proud. I am very honored by this feeling of gratitude that people have expressed towards me,” Raí said. “I don’t necessarily believe in fate, but I believe in energies that attract. It’s as if it was written that I was going to share this story with Paris.” - Raí.
Raí's impact was so big on the club he even helped Ronaldinho become the player he was. Ronaldinho is another player we hold in very high regard, which also lead us to ASL94 after picking up the Ronaldinho rug for our Ultra HQ store in Sydney. We love it and as soon as we saw this latest collaboration we jumped on it. They are that good.
A Store Like 94 started in England back in 2017. Founder, Josh Steeples, decided to focus on football fashion and tying in the crazy world of knockoffs. Since the start ASL 94 has produced a range of products. From Up-cycled jerseys, T-shirts, jackets and toys - he's done it all. Steeples combines vintage pieces with his own modern remakes. Almost everything he creates ties back to the glory years of football and fashion from the 90's.
Of all the products the rugs are our favourite and this
Raí drop is a contender for the best yet. The design is inspired by scarves, tifos, T-shirts and other iconic promotional products from the club in the 90's. The team at LineUp and A Store Like 94 searched thoroughly through archived photos and videos to come up with the elements.
Looking at the design you can see so many cool elements coming together. From the PSG logos, images of Rai himself, sponsors like OPEL, Seat, Tourtel and TV station Canal+ - there's a lot going on. But that's the point. The chaotically gorgeous aesthitic that bootlegs provide have been nailed perfectly on this one. Something A Store Like 94 have mastered over time.
"The whole inspiration board allowed us to put on paper the various archival research that we put in place to develop the final design of the tapestry. With archives unearthed in period books, match archive videos, advertising campaigns and more. After the step of "the whole inspiration board", we had to put all the ideas on paper in order to achieve a rough design of the tapestry. This crude design brings together the key elements that we wanted to convey to the object."
On the left image above you can see the sketch of the tapestry. The right is the final design.
What elevates the rug to even greater heights is the photo shoot done by local photographer Hadrien Sohy. The shoot took place on the roofs of Paris as well as in front of the Parc des Princes. Huge vibe.
A collaboration this good has us thinking. Who would we do if we could do an Australian version?
Keen to pick up the rug? Get yours online over at the LineUp online store.
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