Benfica - Avs: Club premieres black 'street football' shirt by Vhils in 23rd‑round match
In the benfica - avs fixture this Saturday, Benfica unveiled a new black match shirt developed with Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, known as Vhils. The debut matters because it ties the club’s season collection to a 'futebol de rua' concept and required approval from league marketing ahead of the 23rd round.
Development details: Benfica - Avs kit debut
The black shirt made its public appearance at Estádio da Luz before the Benfica‑AVS encounter in the 23. ª jornada of the championship. The piece was created under the creative direction of Vhils and incorporates visual elements drawn from his artistic language: a fragment of the club’s eagle wing treated with texture to convey depth and movement. The club has positioned the design within a broader season concept that otherwise features red, white and beige as the official jersey colours.
Documentation of the kit circulated before kick‑off when captain Nicolás Otamendi broke the secrecy by showing the back of the black equipment on his Instagram stories. Club action to secure the debut included a formal request to the marketing department of Liga Portugal, submitted two weeks prior to the match, to allow the team to wear the new strip for this specific game.
The special edition extends beyond the match shirt. The release comprises a small collection that includes sweatshirts, jogging trousers and T‑shirts, all built around the same creative brief and the football‑as‑street motif.
Context and escalation
The initiative grew from a club programme celebrating street football and was executed through a collaboration with Alexandre Farto (Vhils). The artist said the shirt stems from the intersection of football and art in street settings and that the garment reflects football as a space for identity and self‑expression. That creative intent informed both the visual treatment of the eagle wing motif and the decision to produce accompanying apparel pieces.
To move from concept to match use, Benfica sought league permission. The two‑week lead time for the marketing request to Liga Portugal produced the practical pathway for the club to introduce a color outside the season’s standard palette in an official league fixture.
Immediate impact
The immediate consequence was visible at the match: players appeared in a black shirt rather than the campaign’s usual red, white or beige options, altering the club’s visual presentation on the pitch for the 23rd round. Fans inside the stadium and observers online could view the textured wing detail and the broader apparel range that accompanies the shirt.
Operationally, the club executed the debut as a coordinated event at Estádio da Luz and used captain Otamendi’s social posts to puncture secrecy and stimulate attention immediately before kickoff. The decision affected match‑day branding, merchandising availability and the club’s public messaging about the street‑football initiative.
Forward outlook
The confirmed short‑term milestone was the shirt’s first use in the 23rd round fixture against AVS. Beyond that premiere, the club has rolled the design into a collection of ancillary garments—sweatshirts, jogging pants and T‑shirts—that are part of the same creative campaign. What makes this notable is the combination of an artist‑led visual approach with the administrative step of securing league clearance, which enabled an atypical colour to appear in an official competition.
Further match applications or broader use of the black kit were not specified; the immediate, evidenced next steps centered on the public debut at the Luz and the integration of the design across the club’s seasonal offerings.
