Skip to content
ALEXANDRU ISTRATUCA
WorkAboutContact

3D Apparel &
Sportswear Designer.

Creating football apparel, visual identities and product stories through concept, 3D development and graphic design.

Selected work

15 projects
01View project ↗

The Forbidden Shirt

Sports Media · Study

02View project ↗

FCSB: Nike × Stüssy

Streetwear · Concept

03View project ↗

Morocco: World Cup Concept

Sportswear · Concept

04View project ↗

Como 1907: Beyond the Lake

Sportswear · Concept

05View project ↗

Dinamo: Streetwear Fashion

Streetwear · Concept

06View project ↗

Fiorentina: The Divine Comedy

Sportswear · Concept

07View project ↗

Moldova: Heritage

Sportswear · Concept

08View project ↗

Petrolul: Lupii Galbeni

Sportswear · Concept

09View project ↗

FC Vaslui: Made Real

Apparel · Produced

10View project ↗

Romania: Special Concept

Sportswear · Concept

11View project ↗

FC Botoșani: Official Kits

Sportswear · Official

12View project ↗

CSM Vaslui: Rebrand

Identity · Concept

13View project ↗

Middlesex University: Video Posters

Sports Media · Ongoing

14View project ↗

Atlanta Olympics ’96

Identity · Study

15View project ↗

Ghana: Kente Cloth

Sportswear · Concept

© 2026 Alexandru Istratuca
Sports Media← Back to work
Study

The Forbidden Shirt

An interactive website exploring the cultural symbolism of China’s black football shirt, bringing historical research together with digital garment recreation and a customisable kit builder.

Visit website ↗
The Forbidden Shirt process-book cover with black football shirt and yellow typography

Starting point

A research-led response to the “Whose History?” brief, using China’s black football shirt to explore how clothing carries cultural meaning. The process combined audience responses, visual research and direct examination of the physical garment.

Design decisions

The website’s black and yellow visual language follows the shirt itself. Typography tests and feedback shaped a clearer journey from the story into the kit builder. Recreating the garment in CLO3D involved studying the collar, dragon pattern and proportions. Performance constraints led to a desktop 3D builder and a lighter 2D experience for mobile.

Outcome

The interactive website was presented alongside the physical shirt in an exhibition setting. The process book documents research, garment recreation, interface iteration and cross-device decisions, bringing the historical enquiry into an experience visitors could explore themselves.

Process-book contents from enquiry through evaluationInterpretation of the Whose History brief using the China black shirtStarting-point research into the black China football shirtNike website layout and campaign researchAudience survey charts about the shirt’s cultural meaningFurther audience survey charts and interpretationAudience definition and football-shirt collector referencesBlack and yellow visual-language referencesDisplay, body and technical typography systemDigital campaign and interactive product referencesEarly interface development and technical learning3D modelling workshop and garment-development viewsCultural and theoretical references for the shirt researchResearch into interactive football-kit configuratorsEarly website and shirt-builder conceptsVisual identity and page-layout testsDevelopment from a flat shirt preview to a 3D kit builderDigital recreation of the shirt in CLO3DPhysical shirt, dragon pattern and garment-detail analysisWebsite feedback and layout iterationDesktop 3D and mobile 2D problem-solving approachUser journey from historical story into the kit builderCross-device layouts and responsive testingExhibition photographs with the website and physical shirtProject evaluation and exhibition display
Next projects

You may also like

Morocco: World Cup ConceptSportswear
Fiorentina: The Divine ComedySportswear
Como 1907: Beyond the LakeSportswear
← Back to selected work