If the NBA had Michael Jordan, in national basketball there was Jordi Villacampa. Born in different geographical points in the early sixties, both shared age and height, exactly 1.97 meters; They played in the same shooting guard position, they would win their first title in the same year—Jordan would win the ring with the Chicago Bulls in 1991, while Villacampa would win the League with Joventut de Badalona—, and they would even face each other on the field during the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. Chance, or whatever this whole chain of coincidences was, would also want the myth of the Catalan player to jump off the field to become a style icon with a shoe of his own name. Because the history of basketball can be told through its signature shoes. Lefties and Kelme know very well how to do it: with their new collaboration, KELME JV8 X LEFTIES, They claim the legacy of the best Spanish forward while inaugurating the trend basketcore that will conquer the locker room this winter.
It is a collection that, in Villacampa’s words, transcends the clothes themselves to talk about values. “I hope that new generations can perceive with this new collection everything that the world of sports implies: healthy competitiveness, perseverance, sacrifice, knowing how to win and lose, and also loyalty. I am a One Club Man having spent 18 years playing on the same team,” says the former player, unable to hide his excitement at this tribute. An objective that he hopes to achieve with each garment: to revive the memories of a generation that in the 80s and 90s believed that everything was possible, and to share a wealth of optimism to the following. “This is what Lefties and Kelme have been able to do and transmit, taking us to a distant time, creating a very pampered, very careful collection.”
Villacampa insists that he never wanted to be a legend, but he made the La Penya fans vibrate as only someone like that can do. “In my mind, the JV8 logo with a basketball hoop faithfully reflects what has been me, because it is what everything in this collection really means,” he notes. He began playing for fun until, at only 16 years old, he made his debut in the top category with Joventut de Baladona, where he would continue out of loyalty and to improve himself. His intense record speaks for itself: he is the player who would win the most titles with the Baladon team, including two ACB Leagues, a Copa del Rey, two Spanish Super Cups, two Korac Cups and a Euroleague championship. But long before the titles, Kelme had already realized the forward’s potential.
The Alicante brand, founded by the Quiles brothers, had been forging alliances between fashion and sports for years. Its logo was on soccer tournaments, cycling kits and even sports fields; but there are few phenomena comparable to the one that was unleashed by the signing of the player from Reus in ’89 and what would be, as that unforgettable advertisement said, “his best launch”: the Kelme Villacampa sneakers. It could be said that these sneakers, the central axis of the KELME JV8 X LEFTIES collection, They were the native Air Jordans. Again, the comparisons with Michael Jordan are not coincidental. Kelme, like Lefties, has always had a democratic vision of fashion: he wanted to bring to the kids of the time the clothes that they only had access to on TV or in magazines.
The Kelme Villacampa was inspired by the forceful models that reigned in the NBA – in fact, they were an adaptation of the Kelme Chicago – but connected with the colors of a fan who felt each victory as their own. With those high-top shoes, Villacampa would win the ACB League MPV title in 1991 or become the all-time leading scoring forward in all editions of the Copa del Rey. For many, that heartfelt black-green combination has been the reason for their tremendous success. And not only in their time: the sneakers continue to be a true object of desire today, reselling for triple their price.
But Lefties not only seeks to respond to the desires of the sneakerheads. KELME JV8 A unisex collection that dictates the keys to basketcore based on relaxed and functional silhouettes: sports shorts, iconic tank tops, oversized t-shirts and sweatshirts or trendy tracksuits color block They make up the new uniform of the season. The color palette, featuring black and green, connects sentimentally with Joventut fans – like the JV8 logo worked with various printing techniques – and becomes universal in garments that bridge the gap between the sporting glory of yesteryear and the trends that arrive.
The keys to the new basketcore
He blockecore change the game
The trend blockecore moves this season to the basketball court. The term, coined by American TikToker Brandon Huntley, comes from English slang (bloke means companion) and has turned the vintage equipment of the soccer teams from the 80s and 90s into the most special piece of the youth wardrobe. Lefties changes the playing field, but not the meaning. The t-shirts in this collection may come off the sleeves, but it maintains its colorful vintage aesthetic and sense of belonging and identity.
Las sneakers they have their own name
“I think there are many people who hope to see the black-green sneakers again. “It’s going to generate great expectations because it hasn’t been here for a long time,” says Villacampa, the first Spanish player to have his own signature shoethe signature sneakers with which the fever began to brew sneakerhead in the 80s. KELME JV8 It’s official: “THE LEGEND IS BACK”.
The shorts are for him halftime
Basketball pants have been timidly sneaking into the looks most interesting of streetstyle: with men’s jackets, shirts oversizehigh-heeled ankle boots… And the truth is that they combine in a single garment the two big pants trends of the year: the technical aesthetics of the shorts that we have not taken off all summer and the proportions of the tailored Bermuda shorts that have managed to establish themselves this winter. A touch of grace in the mid-season wardrobe.
“Their” t-shirt is shared
There is always a t-shirt in your closet – no matter the relationship: brothers, boyfriends, roommates… – ready to save us and inspire us when ours becomes too small. Whether due to the loose cut or the graphic motifs that usually dye them, they have a unique ability to take away the seriousness of looks and add attitude. Exactly the same effect that t-shirts achieve unisex from the KELME JV8
Socks are shown
It is no coincidence that luxury brands have started to sell stockings and socks. In just a couple of seasons, that merely functional piece has become the most coveted and expressive accessory in fashion. They are worn in plain colors, like those in the collection KELME JV8 X LEFTIESvery tall and with absolutely everything.
