AS Roma announce unique partnership with cult lifestyle brand tokidoki

For the first time ever, tokidoki has teamed up with a football club for a unique collaboration that will focus on the creation of co-branded merchandise and original content.

Founded in 2005 by Rome-born, Tokyo-based artist Simone Legno and his partners, tokidoki has amassed a cult-like following around the world for its larger-than-life characters and emerged as a much sought-after global brand with past collaborations including Hello Kitty, Karl Lagerfeld, Barbie, Sephora, Marvel and the MLB.

The news of the commercial partnership follows the unveiling of the new tokidoki-designed club mascot Romolo last month.

The first tokidoki x AS Roma product collection is highlighted by a collectible vinyl figurine of ‘Romolo,’ one of the central characters created as part of the collaboration as well as a hat by New Era. A new line of clothing for men, women and children will also be released, as well as a range of bags and accessories.

The full collection will be exclusively available from the end of September at the club’s flagship AS Roma Store on Via del Corso in Rome as well as online at asromastore.com and on tokidoki.it.

The collaboration represents a lifelong dream for tokidoki co-founder and artist Simone Legno.

“I grew up in Rome and despite leaving home 18 years ago, Roma, and my memories of the neighbourhood I grew up in, continues to shape my values and personality,” said Legno.

“I live and breathe Roma and beyond this collaboration being a professional dream come true, emotionally it means so much to me, because I know how proud it makes my family and friends that I have been given this amazing opportunity to show my love for Roma and contribute to our culture.”

The partnership with tokidoki is part of Roma’s on-going content strategy to explore areas that go beyond the traditional boundaries of football clubs, touching on the entertainment, lifestyle, fashion and art worlds.

"For AS Roma, this collaboration represents an opportunity to interact with our fan base in a completely new way and at the same time, reach a completely new international audience who may have never been exposed to Roma before,” said Francesco Calvo, chief revenue officer at Roma.

“What makes this collaboration with tokidoki even more special is that it’s based on a genuine and authentic lifelong relationship between the artist Simone and the club. Simone’s passion for the Giallorossi comes through in every aspect of the new AS Roma x tokidoki collection.”

Even ahead of the release of the first AS Roma x tokidoki collection, the two partners are already working on plans for additional characters, content and product collections that will be made available in Asia.