A GUIDE TO FASHION'S FOOTBALL OBSESSION

As a culture defining trend of the past year, blokecore’s football-centric sensibility saw terrace style revitalised for a modern breed of fashion fan. Gone was the slim denim and Stone Island or C.P. Company soft-shell combination, replaced with oversized football shirts, baggy jean shorts and, more often than not, a pair of adidas’ zeitgeist driving collaborations with Wales Bonner, or even an in-line Samba trainer. While this latest movement in streetwear culture has seen football style come to the fore, the world’s most popular sport has often strayed into the realm of fashion, with cross over collaborations, football shirt aesthetics and unexpected runway appearances introducing a distinctive blend of classic sporting design and forward-thinking fashion that pre-dates the current obsession with football.

In the modern day, football and fashion may walk hand in hand down the tunnel, or the runway, depending on which way you look at it. While fashion’s interconnection with the sport has become more deeply entrenched throughout the past decade, the seeds had been planted long before. From England star David Beckham’s iconic ensembles throughout the ‘90s and ‘00s that graced the cover of every weekly gossip magazine, or Catalan footballer, and now Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola walking the runway for Antonio Miro in 1993, footballers have been tentatively dipping their toes into fashion for a number of years. Continuing the trend, recent fashion forward stars Hector Bellerin, Eduardo Camavinga, and Moise Kean have all walked for celebrated runway shows, permeating the world of fashion further than mere fashion week attendance.

Long renowned as being football’s premier contemporary fashion fan, Bellerin’s appearance walking the runway for Virgil Abloh’s SS20 presentation for Louis Vuitton in Paris attracted attention as a watershed moment, signalling a shift away from the traditional flashy luxury that footballers were commonly associated with and the beginning of a deeper-rooted connection between the sport and the creative discipline. Following suit, Real Madrid’s midfielder and left-back Eduardo Camavinga made history as the first footballer to walk the runway for iconic Spanish fashion house Balenciaga in 2022, while Italian player Moise Kean also donned a look with an appearance walking at KidSuper’s presentation in 2023. Long have musicians and actors been a part of fashion’s theatrical side, so there’s little surprise that as the lines between disciplines become blurred further, footballers would also join fashion’s inner circle and contribute to the ever-evolving cast of famous faces to grace the runway. While this overt infusion of football and fashion drives a clearer cultural connection between the two, the sport has also begun to take cues from its stateside cousin, American Football, with brand sponsors outfitting football clubs for pre and post-match travel.

Almost a runway of its own, the match arrival outfits of American football stars have long captured the hearts – or the ire – of sports fans across the Atlantic. Tapping into this method of generating internet chatter over fashion looks, brands have sought to capitalise on football fans’ obsession, with iconic labels sponsoring Europe’s biggest clubs, dressing their players head to toe in their creations. Over the past eight years, Manchester City have partnered with Canadian-Italian brand Dsquared2, kitting out the team in the brand’s distinctive combination of casual luxury and refined tailoring. Earlier this year, news broke that legendary sportswear brand C.P. Company were taking the reins and would be dressing Manchester City players in the 24/25 season. A match made in heaven, C.P. Company’s history as a favourite amongst Manchester’s football fans positions the brand perfectly to outfit the team, strengthening an already sturdy bond. Similarly, teams throughout Europe have been sponsored by iconic fashion brands, with Dior under Kim Jones’ direction outfitting Paris St. Germain, American designer Thom Browne kitting out F.C. Barcelona, ZEGNA dressing the Real Madrid side, and quiet luxury brand Loro Piana’s dressing of Serie A team Juventus.

Beyond travelwear collabs, football clubs and fashion brands have teamed up for match-ready jerseys. Adding a fluorescent accent to Juventus’ strips, London-based skateboarding brand Palace sponsored the Torino-based side back in 2019, unveiling the creation in a Serie A fixture against Genoa – a bout that was won 2 – 1 by Juventus. A much-rumoured collaboration, the union was an unconventional one, opening a channel between disciplines that had previously been kept considerably apart. Carrying on this lineage, March 2024 saw the release of Real Madrid’s collaboration with Japanese avant-garde designer Yohji Yamamoto’s sportswear line, Y-3. Famed for a strict monochrome colour palette and distinctive sporting details, Y-3’s matchwear selection branched out, featuring Yamamoto’s rose motif emblazoned across black, white, safety orange and purple kits. Enrapturing fans with a twist on his conventional design codes, with the added cultural impact of team loyalty, the collaboration successfully opened further doors of collaboration between the world of football and fashion.

While match day dressing and team sponsorship is a form of collaboration of its own, outright collaborations between fashion brands and football-affiliated labels have snowballed in recent years. Whether it’s a direct union between a football club and a brand, or simply two brands coming together to deliver a football inspired offering, the beautiful game continues to inspire designers in their creative endeavours. London-based House of Errors’ 2024 knitwear caused a stir across social media recently, with the four bespoke styles blending smart-casual knitted polo shirts with vintage football top aesthetics to capture the essence of England, Germany, Italy and Spain. Complete with striking branding to the reverse, these pieces sold out in minutes, highlighting the desire for brands at the forefront of design to produce football inspired garments. Linking up with adidas, Justin Saunders’ highly sought after JJJJound brand presented a subtler selection of football inspired apparel and footwear, featuring legendary Portuguese manager José Mourinho in the campaign. Capitalising on the icon’s status and plain-talking approach, the editorial delivered the perfect, quiet blend of fashion modernity and football culture.

Merging two somewhat disparate sporting cultures, Palace kicked the ball about again in 2022, linking up with Umbro to share a selection of vintage-inspired football tops and track suits. Drawing a line from the rough and ready world of skateboarding to football might seem like a long shot from a distance, but the brand’s sense of humour, penchant for a visit to the pub, and dazzling graphic style perfectly suited Umbro’s retro aesthetics and design codes. Resulting in a capsule that honoured both brands, the union captured the hearts of football enthusiasts and skaters alike, opening a crossover and exchange between the two sports. Tapping into a historic interest in football and football aesthetics, fellow Londoners Aries also linked up with Umbro in 2024, sharing a collection that blended vintage footie style and English folklore, titled “Red, White & Blue”. Celebrating Umbro’s centenary, Aries dived into their archives, combining essential style from the past with their uncompromising visual attitude and graphic identity, creating an esoteric 8-piece sportswear collection that playfully incorporated mythical references.

In a more direct way, the ever-transgressive Nike Air Max Plus surprisingly drifted into football consciousness, with the Beaverton brand transforming the 1998 street style classic into a football boot. Presenting the Mercurial Vapor 15 x Air Max Plus in a dazzling Black and Pimento colourway, the American sportswear giants looked to celebrate the TN’s cult status in the UK, delivering a desirable studded boot that combined a footwear icon with performance sporting excellence. Further tapping into the culture of the boot, Queens, New York, brand Aimé Leon Dore enlisted England right-winger Bukayo Saka and New Balance to share their own take on the Furon 7+. It wasn’t the first time New Balance looked to the world of fashion for inspiration, either, with the American sportswear label linking up with Italian outerwear experts Stone Island and England player Raheem Stirling on a camouflaged Furon 7, complete with complementing apparel. It comes as little surprise that Stone Island ventured into the world of football, considering the brand's President and Creative Director, Carlo Rivetti, owns Serie B side FC Modena 2018.

Looking back over the past few years, it’s clear that football’s reach as the world’s biggest sport cannot be understated, nor can the impact that fashion can have in accelerating a changing cultural landscape. While blokecore aesthetics and football shirts are in vogue now, with brands lining up to launch their latest football inspired offering, it’s clear the two disciplines are to be forever entwined, whether through continued exchange or the legacy of what has already been created.