Athleta / 13

Athleta Magazine Issue 13 continues to explore the territory that has always defined our editorial vision. A territory not far removed from the notion of flow articulated by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi: where athletic endeavour becomes something larger than performance alone, where physical effort and intellectual curiosity converge, and where the pursuit of excellence opens pathways to culture, beauty and meaning. This issue is built around that pursuit.

Its cover story, ‘Chavoso,’ dives into the football-saturated world of Brazil’s barberias, where club crests, player portraits and improvised iconography transform neighbourhood barbershops into shrines to the Beautiful Game. Through Jeff Pedroso’s lens, these spaces reveal a deeper truth about Brazil: a country whose devotion to football remains as emotional as it is enduring. Across the Atlantic, RiseUp Duo travels through the Welsh Valleys for ‘Up&Under,’ an exploration of rugby as something far greater than a sport. In this rugged corner of Britain, rugby functions as inheritance, social glue and collective memory: a living expression of community identity. Matteo Berrettini takes centre stage in ‘More Myself,’ a special production created in partnership with BOSS and photographed by Yoann Guerini. Returning to the Roman tennis club where his journey began, Berrettini reflects on turning thirty, revisiting the places that shaped him while opening a rare dialogue between the athlete the world knows and the person behind the public image. High above sea level, ‘Lunar Asylum’ unfolds as a dreamlike visual narrative. Styled by Elena Bertacchini and photographed by Andrea Casagrande, the story inhabits a suspended landscape where fashion and altitude merge into a singular atmosphere. From alpine stillness we move to the kinetic energy of Dakar’s Corniche Ouest. In ‘Rust and Grit,’ Max Manavi-Huber documents the rhythms of everyday sport in Senegal’s capital, capturing the movement and collective spirit that animate its coastline. The pursuit of excellence defines ‘Architecture of Running,’ developed in collaboration with ASICS and photographed by RiseUp Duo. Here, Nadia Battocletti traces the relationship between her evolution as an athlete and the mountains of Trentino that continue to shape her understanding of endurance and possibility. From elite sport to subculture, ‘Piñón Fijo’ turns its attention to New York’s fixed-gear scene. Through José A. Alvarado Jr.’s multifaceted investigation, the project examines a world where speed, style and urban mythology remain inseparable. Timelessness takes on another form in ‘A Timeless Heritage.’ Granted access to FILA’s archives, we developed a fashion editorial that explores the brand’s enduring influence on sport and style. Styled by our Fashion Editor Silvia Ortombina | Tiny Idols and photographed by Riccardo Romani, the project revisits a legacy that continues to resonate across generations. Snowboarding becomes a visual language in ‘Resonance,’ where Daniel Nedierkofler’s imagery reveals unexpected connections between distant geographies. From Japan to Norway, the board becomes a shared medium through which feelings find common ground. The issue closes with ‘This Was Never Planned,’ Sean Hardy’s remarkable photographic study of contemporary professional cycling. Produced while following Lidl-Trek throughout the season, the series offers an intimate perspective on one of sport’s most visually compelling worlds. 

 

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Athleta is about telling this story in photos. It is the essence of strength and the absence of failure. That’s something that just doesn’t exist, when you know that you’ve given your all. The desire to try when there is no money to be won, but with simply the idea of being the best. These are pages to be looked at, explored and understood. They are images that have soul and touch the soul. They are details to discover. They are journeys to make.