Can Demirezen pitched a collaboration between his streetwear label Midnight and Borussia Mönchengladbach three years ago. He never got a reply. Now his hometown club has approached him – and the collaboration is happening.
Three years can change a lot. When Can Demirezen first pitched a collaboration between his streetwear label Midnight and Borussia Mönchengladbach, his email went unanswered.
Today, his label's name appears alongside Borussia's on a joint collection.
How Midnight Went From Odenkirchen to Borussia Mönchengladbach
Demirezen is from the Mönchengladbach district of Odenkirchen and says he's held a season ticket for Borussia for ten years. Midnight was born there too.
In 2017, Demirezen spray-painted the name onto a wall of the Zur Burgmühle housing estate, the high-rise complex he grew up around. His first pieces of clothing came together with barely more capital than that: he says he bought Fruit of the Loom hoodies for ten euros each, added his logo, and resold them at Hochschule Niederrhein.
Midnight grew from those beginnings. The label has worked with the likes of Casio and Clarks. For Solebox, Demirezen designed a Puma shoe. A pop-up in Japan and a showroom in Paris followed.
Demirezen stayed loyal to his hometown. “I don't need Berlin. Mönchengladbach is my Chicago,” he told Süddeutsche Zeitung in July.
How the Detroit Lions Brought Midnight and Borussia Together
The connection to his own club ultimately came through the NFL. Midnight had designed T-shirts and sweatshirts for the Detroit Lions. Borussia took notice and asked him whether he could imagine a similar collaboration for the Bundesliga club.
As it turned out, Demirezen had pitched that exact idea to the club three years earlier. “I can show you an email from three years ago where I suggested exactly that,” he recalled in conversation with Süddeutsche Zeitung. Back then, nobody had replied.
This time, the request came from Borussia.
Borussia x Midnight Kicks Off With “Season 1”
The result is called BORUSSIA x MIDNIGHT SEASON 1. Borussia describes the limited collection as a tribute to Mönchengladbach, its people, their attitude and the energy of the city.
For Midnight, that connection is part of the label's identity: founded by a Mönchengladbach native, born in Odenkirchen and built there over the years.
BORUSSIA x MIDNIGHT SEASON 1 launches on September 7, 2026. Fans can already pre-register for the drop via Borussia Mönchengladbach's website.
