about us at fc88
Hi! We are Nicole & Matthijs
During the time Nicole worked in football, she discovered something surprising—a massive stockpile of unused football shirts, made redundant simply because the team didn’t qualify for the World Cup. These jerseys had to be replaced with new ones and were either donated or destroyed.
We started asking ourselves: "If national teams change their kits every two years, what about the thousands of clubs replacing their jerseys every season? And all the merch fans have lying around for years?"
The reality was concerning—football shirts, made from non-biodegradable polyester, contribute to vast amounts of textile waste. Plus, with every wash, these jerseys release microplastics into the environment.
Determined to make a change, we founded FC88 to give ‘old’ jerseys a second life. We transform them into stylish, upcycled accessories, extending their legacy in a way that’s both sustainable and fashionable. And that's how our very first FC88 sample was created. Our OG bag you can see here, where the FC88 magic started!
making upcycling sexy
At FC88, we’re on a mission to make upcycling not just sustainable, but cool—and, dare we say, sexy. Football kits are iconic, full of history and energy. But once they’ve had their time on the field, they often get discarded or forgotten.
We saw an opportunity to change that. By turning old jerseys into stylish, one-of-a-kind accessories, we’re giving these pieces a second chance to shine—in a way that makes heads turn. From bucket hats to bum bags, our upcycled gear keeps football heritage alive, reimagined for the streets, the festivals, and everywhere in between.
All our products are made individually by hand, by incredible craftsmen around Europe. Every FC88 item in this webshop are handcrafted in our studio in Venlo, the Netherlands. There refugees and newcomers get their first job opportunity, build skills, and take their first steps toward a new future—integrating into their community while turning old football jerseys into something new.
upcycling since 2020
We have been upcycling football shirts since the beginning of 2020. Starting with football federations like the KNVB, but soon after that our first collaborations with clubs came about. From Juventus to Tottenham Hotspur and Real Betis to Bayern Munich. Our upcycled products have been sold throughout Europe in the fan stores and webshops of some of the biggest football clubs.
But we got so many inquiries from football fans wanting to upcycling their own football shirts with FC88. And that is why, since the end of February 2025, we opened up our own webshop. With the unique opportunity to upcycling your own shirts into one of our bespoke products. We are starting out with bucket hats, bum bags and others. But hope to add our signature roll-up backpacks and duffel bags to the collection soon.