Nature, art, creativity and the cultural symbols of a city – Pistoia – steeped in history, where flowers and plants form an important part of the identity and economic lifeblood of the entire community. These themes are beautifully encapsulated and represented in the ‘Special Edition’ kit’ produced for the Pistoia Basketball from Macron, the technical partner of the Tuscan club which competes in Italy’s top basketball league. The kit features a design inspired by nature, created by pupils at the Liceo Artistico Petrocchi art school in Pistoia under the guidance of Jonathan Calugi, an internationally renowned illustrator.

Unveiled today at the headquarters of the Fondazione Pistoia Musei, the new special-edition kit is a celebration of sustainability and nature, perfectly in keeping with the World Earth Day which is due to take place in a few days“ time (22 April). Above all, however, it represents an original and perhaps unique project on the national basketball scene, as it is the result of an initiative involving many different organisations. In addition to the students who developed the kit design, the project also involved the Pistoia Musei Foundation – the city’s most important cultural institution – as well as ”Sport Marketing’ students from Gonzaga University, who carried out a case study on the project’s design, implementation and communication. A message of environmental awareness that naturally extended to the kits themselves, which were made from eco-sustainable fabrics by Macron, which makes the eco-friendly approach to sportswear production a cornerstone of its corporate philosophy.

This shirt is definitely one to be seen rather than described. Against the white background of the shirt – as well as on the shorts – there is an interweaving pattern of flowers, blades of grass in various shades of green, silhouettes of birds and other woodland animals. The floral motif is also repeated in white on the vertical green stripes running down the sides of the shirt and shorts. A design inspired by one of Pistoia’s cultural symbols, namely the’Millefiori Tapestry o of Adoration, a work from the Flemish tapestry workshop depicting an elegant flower garden populated by wild and fantastical animals, housed in a room entirely dedicated to this work in the museum at the Palazzo dei Vescovi.             

The uniform, which is made entirely by Macron in Eco Micromesh, made from 100% polyester fabric derived from recycled plastic, it will be worn on the pitch during matches in which Pistoia Basketball playing at home against Brindisi and away at Trento, on 21 and 28 April respectively. It will then be auctioned off, with part of the proceeds going to the Women’s Shelter for victims of violence in the city of Pistoia.