Manchester’s Cube Gallery is hosting “Post Match,” an exhibition that mixes smoking and footie (soccer to the N.A.’s). Using cigarette packs to fold origami style jerseys, “Post Match” is an unique concept in art, sport, and smoke. Artists, Leo Fitzmaurice, developed the idea after he “noticed a wet cigarette packet on the ground in the shape of a football shirt and ten years later he is still making them and has a vast collection of over 800 hand made shirts from around the world.” Green Soccer Journal has more…

More looks after the click.

Celebrating 125 years, club tradition is evident in Arsenal’s 2011/2012 away kit. The front of the shirt is divided into two halves, navy blue and turquoise blue, inspired by past away uniforms. The kit features the same bespoke crest (marking the anniversary year) as the home shirt, and with the addition of a diagonal line of the shirt front – reference to Dial Square Sundial at the Arsenal munitions factory in Woolwich, where the Club was conceived in 1886 – there’s ample heritage packed in the top. With celebratory tone, the kit also looks forward… Arsenal’s 2011/2012 away kit continuing Nike’s push for the most environmentally-friendly athletic apparel.

More images of what the Gunners will be wearing away from Emirates this season after the jump.

Tailored by Umbro, the new 2011/2012 home strip for LOC (Lille Olympique Sporting Club) is constructed of a super breathable polyester.The intent of the engineered fabric is to provide the technical pluses of cutting edge polyester with the feel and comfort of cotton.

This Saturday (March 26, 2011), the United States Men’s National Soccer Team (USMNT) host Argentina in a friendly match at the Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey.

To mark the occasion the UMNT will unveil their new third color kit – a vivid red shirt with an obsidian blue sash across the front – regarded by the team as “the people’s jersey.” Nike partnered with US Soccer and invited fans to make their own mark on the shirt. A twitter based campaign entitled “Red All Over” gave participants the chance to write a new motto for the team to be embroidered on one of the shirt sleeves.  As with all USMNT jerseys, the third shirt features symbolic graphics including a coiled rattlesnake on the inside of the neck and the message “DTOM” (Don’t Tread On Me) above the heart on the inside of the U.S. Soccer Federation crest.

The new kit echoes past USMNT designs, working to instill the team’s history and tradition in the Nike’s most environmentally-friendly technically advanced uniform.

Available now from Nike.

The shirt is shown in dynamic motion on Mr. Dempsey above. Details of the USMNT Red Kit are available after the jump.

Yesterday, Nike released the French Football Federation away kit. It’s the second official kit launch in the partnership (which began in January), and takes inspiration from the timeless “mariniere.” A French style icon, the shirt came to life as a 19th-century navy uniform and soon took hold as a symbol of French culture. Add a healthy does of “Considered Design” – the shirt is constructed of all most completely recycled material – and you’ve got a strong mix of icon and innovation.

The kit debuted in this striking photographs by legendary Karl Lagerfeld of Alou Diara.

Full views of the FFF away strip by Nike after the jump.

Nike has unveiled the latest National Team kit for the mighty Brasil National Team. The hallmarks are in the technology  with 13% lighter fabric using up to 8 recycled bottles for each shirt, making it the most Considered Design of any previous Nike Football shirt. Considered Design used for the Brasil kit represents ongoing commitment to design without compromise either to performance or the planet. By continually raising the standards for innovation and sustainability, Nike envisions a “closed loop” future – meaning the shoes you wear today become the shoes, shirts or equipment you use tomorrow. Not surprisingly, design cues also pay homage to Country, the crest has been heat transferred and patriotic messages appear on the back of the neck.

A look at some of the New Brasil National Team kit’s details after the jump.

Tomorrow is the start of a long month of footie. To get you in the proper mood, we recommend you download the official FIFA World Cup 2010 bracket PDF. Print it out, paste it on your work wall, and hope to the Lord that you have ESPN3 as part of your cable package (USA only) so you catch (almost) every match online.

For those on Twitter, be sure to check out their excellent World Cup Tracker here.

Download the Official FIFA 2010 World Cup Bracket PDF here.

01. 88 Bikes
“As Kiva and other microfinancing groups show, philanthropy can be tailored to any size and still make an impact. When Dan Austin, a writer, filmmaker and cycling enthusiast first met children in a Cambodian orphanage in 2006, he wanted nothing more than to give them a taste of the exuberant feeling of freedom known to every suburban American kid. So he figured out a way to give them bikes.” (design observer).

02. In Conversation with Terrence Blanchard
“About twenty years ago, when he was writing the music for Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever, his first film score, trumpeter Terence Blanchard took a hiatus from a successful career—at 28, he could already look back on a four-year stint with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and several years with the contemporaneously influential quintet he co-led with alto saxophonist Donald Harrison—to change his embouchure.” (Jazz)

03. Neil Simon’s ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ Closes in a Week – What Went Wrong?
“… comedy is changing on Broadway, and on Sunday one of Mr. Simon’s most-produced plays in the last 25 years, “Brighton Beach Memoirs,” became one of the biggest commercial flops on Broadway in recent memory. It closed a week after it opened, shocking many in the theater world, not least the writer himself.” (NYT)

04. The Two Sides of Lionel Messi (Above)
“The candidates were announced last week for the Fifa World Player of the Year award. Am I the only one out there who’s not too interested? My problem with the thing is that this concentration on the individual can tend to overshadow one of the fundamental truths of the game – the stars shine brightest when the collective balance of the team is right.” (BBC)

While in NYC this week, I assumed the big talk of the town would be the various tradeshows happening throughout the city, but I was wrong. The real story was the leadup to this weekend’s FANATIC soccer tournament being thrown by adidas. And with the tournament comes some very fashionable custom jerseys for the event. “The 8th annual FANATIC soccer tournament—a sort of World Cup for the creative class—goes down tomorrow at New York’s Chelsea Waterside Park, pitting teams from downtown shops (Opening Ceremony, The Smile), labels (United Bamboo), and the art scene (Chinatown Soccer Club, which has included Ryan McGinness and Mark Gonzales, and its offshoot team, the Krauts) against one another. With a group like this, what’s must-see: The footer prowess?” (men.style)

Finally somebody takes the soccer scarf a little more serious. On your next visit of the stadium, you can add a bit of style to your outfit, by adding a quality Rogues Gallery soccer scarf to it. They come in two colorways and are now available in the Rogues Gallery online store.