Korobka Range

Some say winter is on it’s way. Most say it never left. Growing up amidst the ashes of the Soviet Union is a harsh existence, epitomised by the korobka.

Korobka [коро́бка] Russian - Noun: a box or frame.

Emptying out from the bones of brutalist concrete unit blocks, they stream towards the small box-like court – the korobka. Hemmed in by surrounding crumbling apartments, the 8 foot wire fencing is rusted and the concrete fractured. Here, they will play their own brand of football which would probably be illegal in most other parts of the world. Futsal meets bear baiting. There is never a referee, or discussion about what constitutes a foul (it’s never a foul). Their game, like their existence, is uncompromising.

The korobka is a home. An uncomfortable, bruising, sweaty, pressure-cooker of a home. It’s a place where players from ten to thirty gather to prove themselves, and overcome the scars of life and the body. When they play, the result is remembered. And they will remind you. Often. Even using the door to the court is seen as weak, so the players scale the wire mesh to take to the pitch. And they won’t leave it until they are either victorious or unable to walk. Sometimes both...

The Evason Korobka Range uses these Russian street scenes as inspiration: Strong, angular shapes and understated, bleak colours. Evason products are real, genuine. And they exist to remind us something profoundly simple: that football should be played together, wherever you may find yourself. In the cages, under lights, by the sea.

Everywhere.