What happened to Sweet Years? Christian Vieri and Paolo Maldini's brand that marked the 00s Italian off-the-pitch style

Probably you are trying to remove from your head the Italian fashion trends of the 00s. In the jungle of cheap brands - A-Style, Guru, Baci&Abbracci are just a few examples - there was also Sweet Years, the brand founded by two of the most important footballers of the time: Paolo Maldini and Christian Vieri.

The project was born in 2003, with a simple white t-shirt, and a simple but effective symbol, directed to a specific audience and to that Italian ideal TV celebrity. Well, after 16 years, Sweet Years is still the same of the early 2000s.

Entrepreneurs footballer

The story of Sweet years began in 2001 when Maldini and Vieri founded Go Old '50, in which the two players held 18% each and the sole director was the brother of the brother-in-law of the former Milan captain, together with Paolo's wife and to Bobo's sister. One year after the birth, the brand had gained 4 million euros, ending up also in the PES4 videogame. In fact, during the celebration, the two footballers took off their shirts showing the red heart of Sweet Years. On the wave of success, AC Milan's player Cristian Brocchi became a partner of Vieri and together founded Baci & Abbracci, which took up the aesthetics and taste of SY.

The promotion campaign was simple: show the tee at the end of every match or after every goal, taking away the Milan and Inter jerseys, live on television. Soon that heart became a status symbol of a generation between 14 and 30, the same target to which the brand is addressed today. What has changed today is the reference market, evident also from the brand's social profiles. If in Italy the interest in Sweet Years has diminished, especially after the withdrawal of Maldini and Vieri from football, this has not happened abroad, especially in Asia, where the two former footballers are still living legends.