impossibly chic soccer parkas as antecedents to luxury ones in the mix everywhere
data aide to my new story on ESPN.com
I had this in drafts for a while and it feels strange to send under lockdown, but my story on soccer and parkas is on ESPN, and if you are lucky enough to be at home mildly understimulated then it could be a nice distraction:
Even if you are not a big soccer person. The story is about soccer parkas that predate the current crop of luxury parkas (Moncler, Prada, Ermenegildo Zenga) and are also impossible to buy. So chic. I wrote the following before the world ended:
I started it for Deadspin (RIP) in the fall as a different piece, I focused it more on Wenger. I wondered whether he managed better in his parka (above) or out of it. Could we run the numbers on a specific piece of clothing? I calculated Wenger’s parka’s win-loss record. The full spreadsheet below(1):
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mjdvQQTXw91dtPPsCwWPTzX4AaiWLOFfNxOXvRpXkwE/edit#gid=0
Getty and AP took Wenger outfit photos for just about for every game he managed(2). I counted games in the Long Parka (2010-14) but not the Medium Parka he wore through 2009-10(3). I started counting from the Long Parka’s debut (October 16, 2010, vs. Birmingham) and stopped when the Nike license ran out at the end of the 2014 season, and excluded missing photos and banned games from the count.
I can’t tell if the results are anything. I mean, statistically. During the Long Parka Era Wenger managed an even 199 games (EPL, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup) and went 111-47-41 with an 2014 FA Cup title over Hull City (he was in shirtsleeves). His went 66-30-24 in the LP (222 points, 65% winning percentage) and 45-17-17 (152 points, 67.2% winning percentage) without it. So he was worse. But I am not sure how much by. A coin flip> My much too simple math shows 2.2% of a 38-game EPL season as 0.8 games. So less than a one-game spread over a few years. It’s nothing. Wenger fit pics from the games Getty didn’t photograph him in could tip the balance, totally. But the point here is criticism that he managed worse in the parka was incorrect. He was himself the whole time.
So that was the old article, and when the Deadspin staff resigned in solidarity during my writing phase, the stats, which I had compiled, fell away from the article and instead became the end-of-season notebook dump here.
As for the parkas themselves, it’s not really a market. Vintage sellers don’t come across them or sell them, not even the soccer specialists. The parkas are rare in the way recent unwanted and unheralded middle of the road things can be rare. It’s not hard to buy something expensive; it’s harder to find something hidden in plain sight. I only found three.
Whoever designed these parkas for Balenciaga/Zenga/etc had to have watched or glanced at EPL/Serie A football liked the parkas they saw. Soccer is in the air over there. Was it Gvasalia? Does he watch Arsenal? Who knows what club Valentino Garavani supports. Lazio? Chievo? AC? Inter?
Thanks for reading, be safe.
Snake
past issues, other projects, etc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-JLRt0Ec6gZBm50hATYCYmLctnF9GhVijoEbam50JSw/edit
(1) When I wrote this I thought the math was a severe waste of my time but now everyone who is not writing a novel at home or out working in the front-line medical or grocery fields is severely wasting their time as a rule… and so I am asking you… the reader… go nuts with this shit if you want
(2) Getty/AP missed nine games, which I didn’t count towards Wenger’s total. He was also banned for a few games, and watched from the stands. Getty photographed them all but I didn’t count them towards my total either.
(3) I think Wenger wore a Barbour Burghley before that. He also wore a belted trench for a long time.