Billebeino x EA SPORTS

Ville Leino’s lifestyle & fashion brand Billebeino enters the virtual rink with a new capsule collection designed exclusively for EA SPORTS - featuring a hand-painted design created by the former NHL player himself.

In Ville Leino’s home country Finland Billebeino is proudly worn by athletes, sports fans, and celebrities of all trades. The brand has also firmly cemented its place in Finnish popular culture through a series of innovative and sometimes unexpected collaborations.

Whilst in North America - and particularly in the NHL - Billebeino and it’s recognisable brick logo has gained a bit of a cult following and has been seen worn by some of the biggest personalities of the league - including PK Subban, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon only to name a few. Not to mention a broad group of Finnish NHL stars ranging from Teemu Selänne and Esa Tikkanen to Sebastian Aho and Patrik Laine.

Now is your chance to wear Billebeino in-game in EA SPORTS NHL 21. The Billebeino x EA SPORTS capsule collection hoodie & beanie are available together with a selection of classic Billebeino items in World of Chel hockey bags starting 3rd of December 2020 7 pm GMT.

Every player who logs in to EA SPORTS NHL 21 between 3rd of December and 31st of December 2020 will also receive a free EA SPORTS x BILLEBEINO World of Chel in-game gift bag. For EASHL teams - the Billebeino brick symbol will be available as part of team jersey customisation options.

What originally got you interested in arts & fashion?
Fashion & clothes in general is something I have been interested in as long as I can remember. Already in elementary school I tore apart & customised my pair of Levi’s 501s with scissors & abrasive paper - at that time the inspiration came from Kurt Cobain. I got more into arts and particularly painting whilst playing in North America and becoming more familiar with Basquiat’s, Keith Haring’s, Jackson Pollock’s & Gerhard Richter’s work. This inspired me to start painting. 

What and who inspire you in these projects?
You always need inspiration and people to look up to. Basquiat’s work in particular is a big inspiration for my painting style. In the fashion world there’s many people who inspire me - some of the strongest being John Varvatos and Hedi Slimane’s work for Saint Laurent. In terms of fashion there’s been many other sources of inspiration over the years as well. 

How was Billebeino originally created? 
The project first started when I was playing in Buffalo. I had a lot of injury problems and the games were not going well. This was a very difficult time mentally as the pressure from the media, fans and pretty much everyone around me was huge.

I wanted to get my mind out of hockey and all the stress it was bringing me at that time. This is when I really found painting - it was great therapy for me and kind of an escape from the daily distress. In all of the paintings, I used a specific signature, which later on became the Billebeino logo.

What inspired the design for the Billebeino x EA SPORTS capsule collection?
Back when I was playing and living in the States I also bought a used Super Nintendo - it was not easy to find at the time. And the first game I got for it was of course EA SPORTS NHL 94. When my friend Juhani Putkonen (who later became the Billebeino co-founder) was visiting me we always enjoyed playing that game. You could say that we came up with the idea to create Billebeino while playing NHL 94.

For some reason I always played with New York Rangers and the most memorable players in their 1994-95 team were Mark Messier, Brian Leetch and Adam Graves - whose numbers you can see next to the stars in the design. (In NHL 94 the player you’re controlling has a star around them). In this painting there’s also #99 with blood spilling from his head. In the movie Swingers there’s the urban legend that if you tackle Gretzky really hard in the game - his head starts bleeding. We never got to witness this - despite trying hard - but I felt like I had to include this in the painting as well.

What does having Billebeino in EA SPORTS NHL mean to you?
Being featured in EA SPORTS NHL means a lot - both for our whole team at the office and also for me personally. In a way I feel like something has come full circle. As a kid when playing EA SPORTS NHL I was imagining myself in the league, was always passionate about hockey, worked incredibly hard and ultimately played in the NHL for six seasons.

This collaboration combines the things I am most passionate about - ice hockey (and sports in general), art & fashion. I believe that if you work hard, focus on things you’re passionate about and are not afraid to try something new - you can achieve anything. I hope the story of Billebeino inspires other people to keep going ahead on their chosen path!

3 Facts About Ville Leino

• Played 286 regular season games in the National Hockey League with 40 goals and 79 assists. 37 playoff-games with 10 goals and 18 assists.
• Was one of the key players in Flyers’ 2010 Eastern Conference winning playoff run with 21 points in 19 games. Tied the all-time NHL record for most playoff points for a rookie (with Dino Ciccarelli & Jake Guentzel). In 2010 also broke the record for most playoff assists for a rookie with 14 assists - as well as the record for most assists in playoff-finals for a rookie. 
• Played 343 games in the Finnish Hockey League with 249 total points (83 goals and 166 assists).

3 Facts about Billebeino

• All items are unisex and responsibly manufactured. Billebeino products are globally available at billebeino.com and through select retail partners in Finland and Los Angeles.
• Today, around 40% of Billebeino products are made with 100% recycled and responsibly-sourced materials from Pure Waste.
• The company is working towards carbon neutrality and continuously increasing the share of their products made from completely recycled material.