Pep Guardiola is the world's most handsomest soccer coach. Since his days as the manager of Barcelona and Bayern Munich (he's now running Manchester City), Guardiola has put on a clinic for how to dress on the sidelines — a look consisting of slim trousers, v-neck sweaters, and technical outerwear. We're fans of the look, but recently, Pep's favourite designer jacket brand, Stone Island, is notably missing from his rotation. We don't mean the jackets themselves, but rather the brand's signature patch that's buttoned onto the sleeve of almost every piece of outerwear in their extensive line-up. In recent weeks, Guardiola's jackets appear to have had all of their Stone Island logos removed. The question is, after years of proudly sporting Stone Island's compass logo on his sleeve, why has he suddenly ditched it?
It turns out Guardiola might not simply be feeling a more minimalist vibe in 2018. Rather, the answer is thought to lie in Manchester City's deal with DSquared2 as the club's official fashion partner. DSquared2, as you might know, is a longtime GQ favourite and a purveyor of daring, colourful collections that aren't what we'd expect Pep to normally wear. (That said, recently the Man City manager has found a few more understated DSquared2 pieces to add to his rotation.) We get it: if your boss comes to you and tells you to stop repping for another company — one that isn't paying for the advertising — you may not want to argue. After all, Stone Island's logo has long been a style flex among the coolest kids in the UK, but it serves no practical purpose beyond stunting on Instagram.
The change to Guardiola's wardrobe hasn't gone unnoticed, even among opposing players. Yesterday, Bristol City's Aden Flint approached Pep after the game and asked him to swap out his jersey for the coach's stylish jacket, even sans label. (According to Flint, Guardiola declined the offer.) It seems that Pep's denuded jackets are now collectors' items. We'll be scouring eBay.
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