A football shirt can be an effective vehicle for communicating clear, positive and serious messages. This is certainly the case with the ‘Special Edition’ kit that Macron has just produced for Hannover 96, the German club that plays in the 2. Bundesliga. The shirt takes a clear stand against racism and invites the club’s supporters to refuse all forms of racial hatred inside and outside football stadiums.

The ‘Special Edition’ shirt has a knitted white crew neck. The colours of the club from Hannover, the capital city of Lower Saxony, appear on the sleeve cuffs in the form of three black, white and green stripes. The shirt body is in cardinal red with three vertical stripes in a darker shade of red. The Macron Hero is embroidered in white on the right of the chest while the club badge is silicone printed on the left. Just beneath, in the centre of the chest, the slogan ‘LOVE HANNOVER HATE RACISM’ appears on a white background. The inside label is customised with the Hannover 96 logo and the motto ‘NIEMALS ALLEIN!’ (‘Never alone!’), the Macron logo and the words, ‘Designed in Bologna’, certifying that the garment is conceived, designed and developed at the Macron Campus in collaboration with Hannover 96.The club motto reappears in white behind the neck.

Tone on tone graphics at the bottom of the shirt back depict a crowd of people with flags walking towards the stadium and singing club songs, united by a common passion for their team and showing no differences as to sex, religion or race. The kit is completed by black shorts and white socks with a black top and black and green stripes around the middle.

A Special Edition shirt has been made for the goalkeeper too, featuring neck and sleeve cuffs in anthracite grey. This shirt’s dominant colour is turquoise, with irregular, tone on tone lines and geometric graphics on the sleeves and shoulders. The slogan ‘LOVE HANNOVER HATE RACISM’ appears in turquoise on a black background in the centre of the chest. The shorts and socks are in anthracite grey. As with all the game sets that Macron produces for partner clubs, Hannover 96’s Special Edition shirt is made from Eco Fabric, a polyester material made entirely from recycled post-consumer plastic. In particular, the main material is Eco Softlock with a back panel in Eco Baimi and Eco Mesh inserts for reduced weight and improved breathability.