The biggest shirt in club football is getting a new name on the front for one night. FC Barcelona and Spotify announced today that Tyler, the Creator is the next artist to take over Barça's jersey, and the Spotify wordmark is being swapped for a big gold GOLF logo from his GOLF WANG label for El Clásico against Real Madrid on Sunday, Oct. 25 at Spotify Camp Nou, per the club. Barça Femení wears it first, in their Liga F match on Saturday, Oct. 24.
Tyler is the ninth artist in the series, after Drake, Rosalía, The Rolling Stones, Karol G, Coldplay, Travis Scott, Ed Sheeran and Olivia Rodrigo. This one has a twist: Spotify says it's the first time the partnership has handed an artist full creative control. So it's more than a logo. Tyler directed a short film, and there's a whole Spotify × GOLF WANG × FC Barcelona clothing collection to go with the kit.
The match shirt is the classic blaugrana stripes made by Nike, with GOLF across the chest in gold. The club says limited matchday-quality editions will be sold through Barça Stores, the club's online shop, Nike.com, select Nike stores and SNKRS. There are 1,899 of one limited edition (a nod to the year the club was founded), plus 22 signed by the Barça players from the Clásico and Liga F matches and 11 signed by Tyler himself. The lifestyle range is pure GOLF WANG: a bomber, a retro tracksuit, a leopard-print set, a teal jersey, tees, sweatshirts, socks, a beanie, a bottle and a match-day scarf. The club lists Barça Stores, Nike.com, SNKRS, GOLF stores in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Sydney and London, and golfwang.com as stockists.
Barcelona also gets the full experience. According to House of Heat, a space called (The) Creator's Agora is open on Carrer de Boters in the Gothic Quarter from Oct. 15 to 25. Spotify is throwing a "Copa De Golf" night on Oct. 24 with Yung Taco on the decks. Gamers can pick the kit in KONAMI's eFootball starting the week of the match.
Our take: Some of these takeovers feel like a sponsor slapping a name on a shirt. This one feels like it was designed by somebody who actually cares how it looks. The gold GOLF reads like an old '90s sponsor logo, and that teal jersey is going to be on every fashion kid in Europe by November. The only risk is Real Madrid fans getting jealous of a shirt for once.
Update (October 16): The off-pitch range has a Nike.com date. House of Heat now lists the Nike × FC Barcelona × GOLF WANG collection at eleven pieces, with a varsity jacket and a vintage-style football jersey as the headliners, and says everything lands on Nike.com on October 21. Until then it's already on sale at (The) Creator's Agora in Barcelona, select Nike stores, Barça Stores and the club's online shop, golfwang.com and the GOLF stores in Los Angeles, New York, Tokyo, Sydney and London. If you're not flying to the Gothic Quarter this week, Wednesday is your day.
The collection isn't stocked at ONENESS. For Nike in the meantime, head to ONENESS / Nike.
Photos: official FC Barcelona / Spotify × GOLF WANG campaign images via fcbarcelona.com.
Sources: FC Barcelona; Spotify Newsroom; House of Heat; Sole Retriever.
