136 WHAT'S THE STORY
CR7. RecordBreaking He is considered to be one of the best football players of all time, was voted FIFA World Player of the Year three times, and named European Footballer of the Year twice - Cristiano Ronaldo. Now he has teamed up with New York-based designer Richard Chai to design underwear, shirts, and shoes for his CR7 label. The production partner is Denmark-based JBS Textile Group. Text: Kay Alexander Plonka. Photos: CR7
Cristiano Ronaldo, the captain and all-time leading goal scorer of the Portuguese national team, is a much-admired male beauty on the football pitch. Following the most expensive transfer in football history, Ronaldo has been under contract at Real Madrid since 2009. He has signed numerous endorsement deals throughout his career with brands such as Castrol, Coca-Cola, Emporio Armani, Motorola, Pepe Jeans, Samsung, Suzuki, and TAG Heuer. Together with Ana Beatriz Barros, a Brazilian model, he is currently promoting the collections of Portuguese brand Sacoor Brothers. He is regarded as a true fashion enthusiast. “Fashion and design are two of my passions. I’ve been dreaming about starting my own brand for a very long time”, the 30 year old Portuguese says. In November 2013, he made his dream come true and launched his own men’s underwear label under the CR7 brand, a combination of his initials and shirt number. The product range now also includes a line of socks and a shirt collection. To celebrate the launch, the collection was presented at a large stand at the Bread & Butter trade show. Earlier this year, the CR7 label started its shoe collection for men and boys, which was showcased 315 style in progress
at the Premium trade fair in Berlin. The underwear and sock collections were presented at the ispo trade show in Munich. Enormous Potential
With more than 100 million fans on Facebook and 36 million followers on Twitter, Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the athletes with the greatest reach in social networks. A pointer to the underwear collection on Ronaldo’s Facebook page can receive 300,000 likes and almost 4,000 comments easily. A casual announcement that CR7 underwear is now also available in micro-fibre fabric will be re-tweeted 7,000 times and liked 16,000 times. The potential of these eye-catching communication channels is truly enormous. The designs for CR7 are from New York-based designer Richard Chai, who has already worked for brands such as Armani Exchange, Donna Karan, and Marc Jacobs. London-based advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi is responsible for market communication. The Danish family business JBS is the label’s production partner; the textiles are produced in Denmark, Lithuania, and China. The CR7 distributor for Germany and Austria is Maratex Fashion AG, which is also responsible for the Finnish and Russian markets. The trade agent in Germany is ETC Munich, while the trade agent in Austria is Agentur Hütthaler, which has showrooms in Salzburg and Vienna. “Consumers are looking for new products from brands they can identify with. CR7 appeals to a target audience of young boys from the age of 12 onwards and also attracts young men who desire fashionable designs and cuts. In addition to our seasonal collections, we also offer an extensive stock programme and ad-hoc special packages for oc-
He is not only an imposing figure on the pitch - Cristiano Ronaldo won four Golden Boots as the top scorer in Europe.
casions such as Father’s Day and Easter, as well as products with “Back to School” branding. They are all very well received by the customers. It is definitely worth mentioning the particularly fine quality of the CR7 underwear. The models of this line are made of 95 percent Pima Cotton and 5 percent spandex. They also feature an especially durable elastic waistband”, explains Helmut Hütthaler, the head of the Austrian agency. The Austrian customer list includes household names such as Intersport, Sport 2000, Peek & Cloppenburg, and a few other upscale specialised retailers. The retail price for a pack of 3 pairs of underwear is 39.90 Euro, while a pair of socks costs 7.95 Euros. The retail prices for shirts range from 64.95 to 99.95 Euros. The CR7 product portfolio will soon be complemented by a fra-
grance license and an undershirt collection. A trousers collection cannot be ruled out in the long run. The first CR7 stores opened their doors to the public in Helsinki and Moscow in June.
